Fact Check: Old video falsely claims to show EVM manipulation by BJP in Bihar polls

Hyderabad: A video claiming to show the manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVM) by the BJP in the Bihar elections has gone viral on social media. In the video a woman casts her vote on an EVM for the BSP but the machine shows she has voted for the BJP.

A Twitter user shared the video and wrote, "In the first phase of voting itself, the games have started voted for elephant (Bahujan Samaj Party) but it was directed to BJP watch this and RT."

(archive tweet)

Click here to view the archive and here and for similar claims.

FACT CHECK:

The claim that due to EVM manipulation votes are being directed to the BJP in the Bihar elections is FALSE.

If we watch the video closely, we can see that the woman in the video has placed her fingers over both the BJP and BSP symbols. Secondly, the light corresponding to BJP's symbol lights up hinting that she may have pressed the BJP button which could have led to the machine showing her vote was cast for BJP. Thus, it cannot be said with certainty that the EVM was faulty.

Next, we performed a reverse image search and found that the same video was uploaded in 2019 during the Lok Sabha elections with the same claim. (Click here and here to view)

It is an old video that has gone viral with false claims that it took place during the ongoing Bihar elections. Hence, the claim is FALSE.