Old video of man damaging voting machine shared with misleading claims

by Abhishek Kumar

A video depicting an individual damaging an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) unit is circulating on social media. It is being shared with claims linking it to the first phase of the 2024 general elections, stating that people are frustrated with EVMs and expressing their anger.

Adivasi Samachar shared this video without any context, associating it with the first phase of polling in the 2024 general elections on April 19, and claimed that a person, enraged with Narendra Modi, damaged the EVM unit.

User Pukhraj Bishnoi also tweeted the video on election day without providing any context, labelling it as an expression of anger directed towards EVMs.

Fact Check

Alt News performed a reverse image search using a frame taken from the viral video. This led us to a news article on the website of the Star of Mysore newspaper published on May 12, 2023. According to this report, during the Karnataka legislative assembly elections on May 10, 2023, a man was arrested for allegedly damaging an EVM at a polling booth in the Chamundeshwari constituency. The individual was identified as 48-year-old Shivamurti. After signing the register, he suddenly lifted the ballot control unit and slammed it on the ground, causing damage. The police apprehended him, replaced the damaged ballot control unit, and resumed the voting process smoothly. The Vijayanagar police issued a statement saying that Shivamurti was mentally unwell and was released after questioning. The Hindu also reported on the incident.

Hence, a video of a person damaging an EVM unit during the 2023 Karnataka legislative assembly elections was shared without context, falsely associated with the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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About the Author

Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).