By Hazel Gandhi
A video from inside a strong room, showing workers removing voting slips from VVPAT machines is being shared with claims that it shows EVM fraud by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to win the Gujarat assembly elections.
The video shows a man opening a sealed box and taking out the VVPAT machine and then removing all the slips (or votes) and putting them in a black envelope. He then proceeds to seal the envelope and closes the box again, placing a new roll of paper on top of the box. The person recording the video captures the entire room, full of these sealed boxes and VVPAT machines, and asks the other people to do the same.
The video has been going viral online with claims that the BJP engaged in EVM fraud in Bhavnagar, Saurashtra, to win the election.
A user on Twitter shared the video and wrote, "Landslide Victory In Gujarat. Scene From One Of The Strong Rooms In That State. Bhavnagar Constituency."
Click here to view.
Another user on Facebook wrote, "BJP stakeholders, see how BJP wins with your own eyes. This is from Bhavnagar district"
(Original text in Gujarati: "બીજેપીના ઠેકાદરો બીજેપી કેવી રીતે જીતે છે એ જોઈ લો તમે તમારી આંખોથી આ ભાવનગર જીલ્લા નો છે")
Click here to view.
We also received the video on our WhatsApp tipline (7700906588)
The post was also shared on Instagram by the handle @gaarja.maharashtra with the caption, "Is this proof that BJP has bought democracy?"
(Original text in Marathi: "भाजपने लोकशाहीला विकत घेतल्याचा हा पुरावा आहे का...?")
Click here to view.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM reached out to the Election Commission in Gujarat where an official told us that the video shows regular procedure and does not show any fraud happening.
Speaking to BOOM, SN Katara, Deputy Election Officer, Bhavnagar, told us that the video shows no wrongdoing, and that the man is merely following procedure.
"After the counting is over, the slips are transferred to the black cover. The leftover roll is then to be put aside. The EVMs go their own way, and this is how the slips are taken out of the VVPAT. The procedure is being followed properly," he said.
As far as the location of the incident was concerned, he said, "I cannot confirm whether this incident is from Bhavnagar or not. The video has no such clues."
The District Election Officer and Collector of Bhavnagar, D K Parekh, also refuted claims of EVM fraud and said, "We have followed the process laid down by the Election Commission. To maintain transparency during the election, we videograph this process and even invite the candidates to be present during the same."
On the video itself, Parekh said, "This particular video has been taken by an unauthorised person. We have launched an inquiry into the incident. That apart, the process we have followed is in accordance with all the rules."
We also found a circular by the ECI titled 'Removal of VVPAT slips from VVPATs after completion of Counting of Votes', that details this process. A part of the circular with instructions about handling VVPAT slips can be found below:
EC's instructions on handling the VVPAT slips.
The same instructions were also shared with us by DK Parekh, who obtained them from the Returning Officer Handbook issued by the EC.
"The only thing we need to investigate as of now is how the video got out from an unauthorised source. Otherwise, there is nothing illegal happening in it," he added.
He has also tweeted the same clarification as a reply to the viral tweet.
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