Does This Video Show Evidence of ‘Vote Chori’ in EVMs? What We Know

The machine used in the viral video is not the official ECI EVM.

What We Know | It should be noted that the video does not show the real EVMs of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a person showing how Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with is being shared on social media platforms with users pushing it as an evidence of "vote chori" in Bihar assembly elections.

What have users said?: An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the clip with a caption in Hindi that loosely translated to, "Even if the opposition doesn't understand, even if this example might seem visible in this video, but the real root of theft is this --Your vote is cast through the EVM but it is counted by them ......... Surely the opposition should now understand!!."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The above clip has clocked over two lakh views on X. The same video is going viral on Facebook and Instagram (archive here, here, and here).

What we know?: We found that the video shows a dummy EVM created by a person named Rahul Chimanbhai Mehta, which intended to show how black glasses on the machines can help in vote tampering.

What we found?: A closer look at the video showed that the machine box carried a picture of a person with texts below it. The text in Hindi identified the man as one Rahul Chimanbhai Mehta.

• It also carried a website link 'EvmHatao.com'.

The machine box carried a photo of a person.

(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)

What did the website show?: On going through it, we found that Mehta had graduated from IIT Delhi and was the co-founder of the Right to Recall Party.

• He, along with others, show this 'EvmBlackGlass magic demo' to people and advocates for the end of EVMs usage.

The website advocates for the removal of EVMs.

(Source: EvmHatao website/Screenshot)

Other similar videos: Team WebQoof performed a search with the words "EVM Black Glass Demo" on YouTube and found a video uploaded on an unverified channel named 'Chinmay A.'.

• It was shared on 6 January and its title said, "EVM_BlackGlass_Demo_Invented_by_Rahul_Mehta_presented_by_Chinmay_Amte_Mumbai."

• In the clip, the man could be clearly heard saying that the machine seen in it was created by Mehta. He further clarifies that the machine was not from the Election Commission of India (ECI).

ECI's statement on previous allegations: The official X handle of ECI had responded to a similar video, where a person could be seen alleging that EVMs can be hacked.

• The election body clarified that EVMs shown in the video was not ECI EVMs. The post further said, "ECI EVM cannot be hacked or manipulated."

• It should be highlighted again that the viral video, too, did not carry the ECI EVMs.

News reports on EVMs: A report published in The Hindu in July said that the ECI stated that the EVMs are "tamper-proof" after it completed the 'Checking and Verification' (C&V) process for the 2024 Maharashtra elections.

The report was last updated on 31 July.

(Source: The Hindu/Screenshot)

Conclusion: It is evident that the viral video lacked the important context of it not carrying the official ECI EVMs.

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