Elon Musk praises India’s fast elections, mocks US vote counting: ‘640 million votes counted in a day’

Washington: Billionaire businessman Elon Musk took a swipe at the US electoral process on Sunday, as California has yet to officially announce the results of the presidential election, more than two weeks after it was held. Musk drew a contrast with the voting processes in India, praising the country for its efficiency.

The Tesla CEO highlighted that India was able to count a staggering 640 million votes in just one day. Sharing a post on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk wrote, "India counted 640 million votes in 1 day. California is still counting votes," and posted a facepalm emoji to express his frustration.

In contrast, Musk noted that California was still struggling to count its votes, calling the delay "tragic" in response to a meme posted by an X user.

Donald Trump won a second term as President of the United States after securing 295 electoral votes in the 2024 presidential election, defeating Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who garnered 226 votes. Following his victory, President-elect Trump has moved quickly to finalize his foreign policy and national security teams ahead of his formal inauguration in January 2025.

Notably, California has the largest number of registered voters in the United States—over 22 million registered voters.

According to the California Secretary of State’s website, county elections officials must begin reporting results to the Secretary of State within two hours after polls close on election night. These officials then continue to report results periodically until all precinct vote totals have been reported.

The first election results typically include ballots received before Election Day, such as vote-by-mail ballots and early voting ballots. County elections officials can begin opening and processing vote-by-mail ballots up to 29 days before Election Day, but these results cannot be made public until polls close.

Election night results are semi-official, based on in-person ballots cast on Election Day, early voting ballots, and vote-by-mail ballots processed before Election Day.

By law, California county elections officials have 30 days, known as the canvass period, to count every valid ballot and conduct a required post-election audit. During this period, elections officials must perform a public 1% manual tally of the ballots to verify the accuracy of the automated count.

During the 30-day canvass period, officials also process provisional ballots, ballots from voters who registered and voted conditionally (Same Day Voter Registration), and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days of the election.

This process includes comparing signatures on envelopes with those on file. If a signature is missing or doesn't match, county elections officials are required to contact voters to verify their signature before their ballot can be counted. Voters can verify their signature up to two days before the county certifies the results. These procedures ensure that all valid votes cast by eligible voters are counted, which is why it takes longer for California to count its ballots.