Stella Parton wished death on Elon Musk and Russian bots after alleging her Tennessee ballot thrice defaulted to Marsha Blackburn, officials note just one such complaint among 400,000 votes.

Breitbart News reported that the 77-year-old singer and vocal Democrat posted the remarks on Facebook on Wednesday, tying her early-voting experience at Hermitage Library to wider fears about the November midterms.

Parton said people like the SpaceX CEO and Russian bots “may be upended another election” and added a blunt wish for their end. She framed the post as a warning so others would not “let them rig this election.”

She described the specific voting machine issue this way:

"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."

Parton added that she “would never vote for her for anything.” She urged voters to double-check even if it slowed the line.

State officials report one similar complaint in 400,000 ballots

Tennessee’s Secretary of State’s Office told local outlets that roughly 400,000 ballots had been cast so far in the midterms. It had received only one complaint matching the kind Parton described.

Mark Goins, the state’s Coordinator of Elections, stressed the built-in checks. He said the systems give voters more than one chance to catch and fix errors before a ballot is final.

Goins put it plainly:

"Tennessee’s voting systems are designed with multiple safeguards to help ensure that ballots are recorded consistent with voter intent."

Officials encouraged anyone who thinks a machine has gone wrong to alert a poll worker on the spot, before casting. The process includes an initial selection screen, a final review screen, and a paper ballot or paper record.

Parton did not say whether she flagged the issue to a poll official at Hermitage Library before finishing. The state response addressed complaint volume and the multi-step review process rather than confirming her specific machine behavior.

Death wish lands amid family grief and election tension

In the same stretch of posts, Parton wrote that the thought of outside interference “makes my skin crawl.” She followed with the line that drew the sharpest attention:

"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."

She later said she felt “more frightened and frustrated than angry” and that the moment made her “angry for every good and innocent person in this country.” The posts mixed personal alarm with a call for others to stay vigilant at the polls.

The timing sits against recent family loss. Stella Parton had already spoken out about a flood of AI-created misinformation after Dolly Parton's death earlier this year, after the country legend died of cancer in August.

High-profile family losses often draw intense public attention, much like coverage of the death of RFK granddaughter Kyle Kennedy after long health struggles. Parton’s latest posts shifted that attention onto election machinery and a named private citizen.

Musk was identified only as SpaceX CEO in the reporting. No statement from him appeared. Marsha Blackburn was named solely as the candidate Parton said the machine kept selecting. No reply from Blackburn was included.

Parton presented herself as a serious voter who still tried not to hold up lines, yet felt compelled to speak. She cast the default problem and the broader “rig” warning as reasons for public alarm. State figures on complaint volume and the layered review screens stood in contrast to that framing.

When a public figure answers a disputed ballot screen with a wish that opponents die and become food for worms, the temperature of the debate rises far past any single machine glitch.