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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Elections & voting fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about elections & voting. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,413 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYElections & voting

Video depicts VVPAT slips being removed from the strong room, despite the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 requiring VVPAT slips to be preserved for one year following the elections

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examines a viral video said to show people removing Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips from machines in a strong room in breach of election rules. It notes that the video’s time and location are unknown, and distinguishes the visible act of removing slips from the claim that they were being destroyed. The review says workers remove the slips after counting and preserve them in a black envelope, rather than destroy them. Supporting excerpts: “Though the time and location of the video is unknown, the video doesn’t show any wrongdoing. The workers can be seen extracting the VVPAT slips from the machine and preserving them after counting as per the guidelines of Election Commission of India, and not destroying them.” “Instead, it merely shows the removal of VVPAT slips from the respective machines & preserving them in a black envelope in accordance with the Election Commission’s guidelines on handling VVPAT slips after completion of the counting of votes.” The review also checks the rule cited in the claim. It explains that Section 94(b) lists specified election papers to be retained for one year, but does not specifically name VVPAT slips. It says Section 94(c) covers other election papers, including VVPAT slips, and provides for retention as directed by the Election Commission unless an election petition or court case is pending. Supporting excerpt: “Section 94(b) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, states that subject to any direction to the contrary given by the Election Commission or by a competent court or tribunal, election-related papers such as used and unused ballot papers, counterfoils of used ballot papers, marked copies of electoral rolls, and registers of voters shall be retained for one year. However, this rule does not specifically mention VVPAT slips. Section 94(c), which addresses all other election papers not mentioned above (including VVPAT slips), states that they can be retained for a period as directed by the Election Commission unless the Election petition/Court case is Pending.” As further context about the video, the review reports that the same footage had circulated in December 2022 with a different allegation, concerning EVM fraud in Bhavnagar during the Gujarat elections. It cites local officials’ explanation that the workers were following procedure and says an inquiry was initiated because an unauthorized person recorded the video. Supporting excerpt: “When the same video went viral in December 2022, claiming to show EVM fraud in Bhavnagar during the Gujarat elections, Deputy Election Officer of Bhavnagar, SN Katara, clarified that the video does not depict any wrongdoing; instead, the workers are simply following established procedures. Additionally, the District Magistrate and Collector of Bhavnagar, D.K. Parekh, stated that the video was recorded by an unauthorized individual and they initiated an inquiry into the incident.”

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaElections & voting

පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ මෙවර මැයි රැළියට සම්බන්ධ ඡායාරූපයක් ද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerned a social-media photo presented as showing preparations for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s 2023 May Day rally, and a banner in the image was said to carry the rally’s theme. The review reports that it checked the image’s history and contacted SLPP MP Sanjeeva Edirimanna about the event and its theme. The review traced the same image to a Facebook post dated May 6, 2018, and says it showed preparations for the May rally held at Galle’s Samana Sports Ground on May 7, 2018. It also refers to a live broadcast of that 2018 rally. This provenance places the photo five years before the event it was being used to depict, rather than showing preparations for the 2023 rally. For 2023, Edirimanna told the reviewers that the SLPP rally was scheduled for May 1 at Campbell Park in Borella and that its theme was “Break challenges and achieve aspirations.” The review says the theme shown in the circulated photo would not appear on the 2023 stage. Its conclusion is that the image was from preparations for the 2018 rally, not the SLPP’s 2023 rally.

PA MediaElections & voting

Jeremy Corbyn won an enormous victory in 2017 – the biggest victory that Labour had won in generations.

Publisher’s rating: False: Whether you look at the number of parliamentary seats won by Labour in 2017 (262) or their share of the vote (40%), the Opposition party lost by a fair margin. While it is true that they performed better than in the 2015 election, when they won 30.4% of the vote and 232 seats, they still fell far short of the Conservative Party, which won far more seats (317) and the largest vote of any parliamentary party (42.3%).

FACTLYElections & voting

Visuals related to the upcoming Karnataka elections 2023

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review investigates three videos circulated as showing events connected to Karnataka’s upcoming 2023 assembly elections. It concludes that none depicts that election: one video is from a Telangana by-election in 2022, another is linked to West Bengal’s 2021 general election, and the third is from a Telangana by-election in 2021. For the first video, which shows a mob vandalizing a BJP campaign vehicle, the review says a reverse-image search found news reports showing the same visuals in November 2022. It identifies them as footage of a clash between BRS and BJP supporters on the last day of the Munugode Assembly constituency by-poll campaign. For the second video, showing people with anti-BJP placards, a Facebook search found the video on a page called “No Vote to BJP” in April 2021. Its caption referred to Bengal, and the review links the campaign to the West Bengal general election that year. The third video shows a woman receiving money in an envelope bearing the BJP election symbol. The review reports that reverse-image searches found regional media reports associating the footage with the Huzurabad constituency by-poll in Telangana in October 2021. It notes a limitation: those reports did not specify the video’s exact location. The review’s stated basis for ruling out a connection to Karnataka is that the footage was available online from 2021, well before the 2023 election.