WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — In a Cabinet meeting Thursday, former U.S. Representative and current Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard urged President Donald Trump and federal officials to immediately transition the nation to paper ballots, citing newly obtained evidence of critical vulnerabilities in electronic voting machines.
“We have evidence of how these electronic voting systems have been vulnerable to hackers for a very long time and vulnerable to exploitation to manipulate the results of the votes being cast,” Gabbard said during the meeting, which included top Cabinet members and President Trump. “This further drives forward your mandate to bring about paper ballots across the country so that voters can have faith in the integrity of our elections.”
Gabbard’s remarks have ignited a debate over election security. Gabbard warns of the potential for hackers to “flip votes” on compromised machines.
The call for reform comes just one day after Trump signed a set of executive orders directing the Department of Justice to investigate Chris Krebs, the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), for his conduct during the 2020 election. Krebs, who was fired by Trump shortly after declaring the election “the most secure in American history,” became a central figure in the January 6 House Committee hearings, where he accused GOP leaders of perpetuating a self-reinforcing cycle of election misinformation.
Krebs’ firing came after he co-signed a joint statement with other election officials affirming there was “no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” His public dismissal of election fraud claims put him at odds with Trump and his allies in the months following the 2020 vote.
The Justice Department’s new investigation into Krebs and former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor—also a vocal Trump critic—is raising alarm among legal scholars. Critics argue that using executive authority to target former government officials sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the traditional independence of federal law enforcement from White House influence.
“Eliminating the firewall between the Justice Department and the President could turn investigations into political weapons,” said one senior legal analyst, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Gabbard’s claims follow a growing chorus of skepticism surrounding electronic voting systems. Last year, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also weighed in on the issue, warning on X that “we should eliminate electronic voting machines” due to the risk, albeit small, of manipulation by hackers or AI systems. “The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high,” Musk wrote.
While some experts caution against overreaction, others argue the risks warrant closer scrutiny. A recent MIT study found that although large-scale vote manipulation via electronic systems remains unproven, many machines in use today operate with outdated software and weak security protocols, particularly in less-funded jurisdictions.
The renewed focus on voting technology security is expected to shape upcoming legislative and electoral conversations, especially as the 2026 midterms approach. Trump, who has repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of the 2020 election, appears committed to pushing national reforms — even if they clash with established democratic norms.
For now, Gabbard’s call for a nationwide switch to paper ballots marks a high-profile push within Trump’s inner circle to address ongoing fears about election integrity.
