A viral conspiracy theory being spread by far-Left Demcorats is claiming Elon Musk used his Starlink satellite network to hack voting machines and deliver President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election has one major flaw: the voting machines they claim were hacked aren’t connected to the internet.
Despite conceding her landslide loss last week, the Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has also quietly been collecting money for a potential recount.
The baseless claims, which have racked up millions of views across social media platforms, suggest Musk’s satellite constellation somehow manipulated vote counts in swing states to steal the election from Vice President Kamala Harris.
A single TikTok video making these allegations has been viewed over 900,000 times and shared 55,000 times.
But election security experts and voting machine manufacturers say these claims are technically impossible.
“Those systems absolutely cannot have any network,” explains Chip Trowbridge, chief technology officer at Clear Ballot, a federally approved voting system manufacturer. “If you look at the machines from Clear Ballot, the only wire that comes out of them is a power cord.”
The voting machines in question are deliberately designed without WiFi, Bluetooth, or any network capabilities. In the rare cases where jurisdictions transmit unofficial results electronically after polls close, they use private networks with extensive security measures — not satellite internet.
Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, confirmed there is “no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
The conspiracy theory shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what Starlink actually is.
The satellite network, developed by Musk’s SpaceX, provides high-speed internet to remote areas by operating in low Earth orbit, about 342 miles above ground.
Currently, Starlink operates 6,499 functional satellites — roughly half of all satellites orbiting Earth. While impressive in scope, the system is simply an internet service provider, most recently making headlines for providing emergency communications during Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The viral claims appear to have originated from a network of fake accounts before being amplified by real users. Israeli disinformation tracking firm Cyabra identified 270 fake profiles that posted over 2,100 times about election fraud, generating around 40 million views.
Claims of “missing votes” have also spread widely, but experts say these discrepancies are easily explained by normal vote counting delays, particularly in California where only 74% of ballots had been processed despite the state being called for Harris days ago.
“Even without evidence, false claims like these can be corrosive to public trust,” warns Grace Rahman, news editor at fact-checking organization Full Fact. “We urge everyone to check what they’ve seen online is accurate and consult trusted sources before sharing.”
The conspiracy theories continue to spread despite President Joe Biden lending it any credence.