Fact Check: Video showing people engaged in stealing VVPAT slips is old and not related to 2024 general polls
The outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections had a sobering effect on the BJP. It fell short of the majority mark of 272 seats. Significant setbacks for the party were Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. The party gained seats in Telangana, Kerala and Odisha.
VVPAT
The outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections had a sobering effect on the BJP. It fell short of the majority mark of 272 seats. Significant setbacks for the party were Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. The party gained seats in Telangana, Kerala and Odisha. NDA is set to assume power with Narendra Modi leading the alliance and becoming the Prime Minister for the third time.
Meanwhile, a video showing a few people taking out VVPAT slips from the EVM machines and putting them in a cover is going viral on social media platforms especially on WhatsApp. The video also shows a man closing and sealing the envelope and then closing the box.
Different comments can be seen along with the video.
This video is also in circulation on WhatsApp with the caption ‘దయచేసి ఈ వీడియోను మీ అన్ని గ్రూపులలో ఫార్వార్డ్ చేయండి, తద్వారా ఇది సుప్రీంకోర్టుకు చేరుతుంది. అర్జంట్ దయచేసి’. When translated, it reads: ‘please forward the video so much that it reaches the supreme court. Urgent’
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The video does not show tampering of EVMs during the 2024 elections.
When we performed a reverse image search using the extracted keyframes from the video, we found that the video is at least 2 years old and was in circulation since December 2022.
Bhavnagar district collector and district magistrate commented and clarified on the tweet by an X user stating "After counting of votes as per the directions of the Election Commission, slips are removed from the VVPAT machines and sealed in a black envelope. So that VVPAT machines can be used for the next elections. The entire process is videographed and one copy is sent to the strong room and the other to the concerned District Election Officer (DEO)."
We also found a circular in the name of the Election Commission of India which mentions post-poll instructions to the counting officers. The instructions state that the VVPAT slips should be removed from the VVPAT machine drop box and then the envelopes containing the slips are placed in thick black paper envelopes and sealed using red wax, along with the bilingual secret seal, given by the Commission to the returning officer.
We can see that the persons in the viral video are following the exact same procedure. Hence, the viral video does not show people stealing VVPAT slips from the EVM machines. The video shows the ECI staff removing slips from the machines and sealing them off after the counting. These are done as per the ECI instructions. The video is an old one from 2022. The claim is False.