Singer Stella Parton, the younger sister of country legend Dolly Parton, called for Elon Musk to “die” and be eaten by worms while accusing the SpaceX CEO of trying to rig the midterm elections, as reported [1] by Breitbart.
Parton, 77, is known both for her singing career and her connection to Dolly Parton, a winner of 10 Grammys. Stella Parton lost her sister to cancer in August.
Her attack on Musk appeared Wednesday in a Facebook post that also targeted Russian bots. She suggested that both could be involved in disrupting another election.
“To think people like Elon Musk and Russian bots may be upended another election makes my skin crawl. May they all die and worms eat them,” Parton declared in the post.
The vicious remark came during a broader social media tirade about her experience voting early in Tennessee the previous week. Parton claimed her ballot repeatedly switched her selection to Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn.
“In Tennessee last week at the Hermitage Library where I voted, I had to go back three times and correct my vote because it kept defaulting to Marsha Blackburn,” she wrote.
Parton, a vocal Democrat, made clear that Blackburn was not her preferred candidate. She also warned other voters to take the time to inspect their selections, even if doing so slowed the voting process.
“I would never vote for her for anything,” Parton continued. “I’m putting this out here because when we vote, we take it seriously, but we try not to hold up the long lines. Do it anyway. Don’t let them rig this election.”
Parton returned to the subject in another post, describing fear and frustration as the emotions behind her anger. “And we have people asking why we’re so angry. I’m more frightened and frustrated than angry.”
She then portrayed the situation as painful for people across the country. “This is so sad and heartbreaking, but to think this is what it’s come to makes me angry for every good and innocent person in this country,” Parton complained.
The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office offered a sharply different picture of voting across the state. Among roughly 400,000 ballots cast so far in the November midterms, the office said it had received only one complaint resembling Parton’s account, according to WSMV.
State officials also said voters have several opportunities to verify their choices and correct errors before casting their ballots. Those checks include the initial selection screen and a final review screen.
Voters can also inspect the paper ballot or paper record generated by the voting system. The state presented those stages as safeguards intended to ensure that each ballot reflects what the voter selected.
“Tennessee’s voting systems are designed with multiple safeguards to help ensure that ballots are recorded consistent with voter intent,” Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins told the Tennessean.
The Secretary of State’s Office urged any voter who believes there is a problem to alert a poll official immediately. Officials said that warning should come before the voter casts the ballot so the issue can be corrected.
Parton’s posts combined an allegation about her own ballot with a grim attack on Musk and Russian bots. State election officials responded by pointing to the limited number of similar complaints and the multiple review stages available to Tennessee voters.