A video of several people breaking Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) is being circulated on social media platforms with users linking it to 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
What are users claiming?: Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the post claimed that the EVMs were found in a party leader's vehicle following which the machines were destroyed by a mob.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)
The post had garnered over a million views on Instagram, when this report was being written. More archives of similar claims can be viewed here and here.
Are these claims true?: No, the video is old and unrelated to the ongoing general elections.
The incident is from May 2023, when several locals in Karnataka's Vijayapura district damaged additional EVMs that were being transported by election officials during the state assembly elections.
What led us to the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the video's keyframes using the help of Google Lens and found similar visuals published in a report by Free Press Journal.
It said that around 23 people were arrested from Masabinal in Vijayapura district after they intercepted a poll duty vehicle transporting EVMs.
According to the Election Commission, a sector office was manhandled and two control and ballot units as well as three Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) were reportedly damaged.
The report was last updated on 10 May 2023.
(Source: Free Press Journal/Screenshot)
Statement from the police: Speaking to The Quint in May 2023, Vijayapura SP Anand Kumar confirmed that the election officials were carrying additional EVMs when they were intercepted. He added that 14 people had been taken into custody.
"People near polling stations mistook that EVM machines were being illegally carried before the conclusion of polling and destroyed it."Vijayapura SP Anand Kumar
Press note from the ECI: Team WebQoof accessed a press note from the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka. The note corroborated the details of officials carrying reserve EVMs and VVPATs from a strong room in the Basavana Bagewadi constituency to Masabinal.
The note said that around 24 people were arrested from the spot.
The press note issued by the Chief Electoral Officer's office in Karnatka.
(Source: Accessed by The Quint)
A second wind?: We had previously debunked the same video in May 2023 when it was said that these EVMs were found in a BJP leader's car. Watch our video below to find out more.
Conclusion: This video is old and does not people destroying EVMs found in a BJP leader's car during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
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