Musk praises Indian elections as California vote count delayed
Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed California's slow vote counting in the 2024 US Presidential Election, contrasting it with India's rapid tallying in its Lok Sabha elections. "India counted 640 million votes in one day. California is still counting votes," Musk wrote on the social media platform X, with a facepalm emoji. His remarks come as California continues to count votes nearly three weeks after polling day, with over 570,000 ballots still uncounted, according to the Los Angeles Times.
California's delayed election results amid mail-in voting
In India, more than 900 million people were eligible to vote in the world's largest election. A record-breaking 642 million voters cast ballots. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been projected as the winner with 58.6% of the vote, against Donald Trump's 38.2%, by the Associated Press. The delays are due to California's dependence on mail-in voting.
India's efficient election process under ECI
Musk's comments came after vote counting ended for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections in India. In Maharashtra, the BJP won 132 seats while Shiv Sena bagged 57. In Jharkhand, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won 33 seats. India's election process is successfully efficient due to its centralized management by the Election Commission of India (ECI), which conducts elections and provides real-time trends/results using EVMs.
