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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

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaElections & voting

“සිංහලයා පැරදවිය හැක්කේ සජිත්ට ඡන්දය දුන්නොත් විතරයි” සුමන්තිරන්ගෙන් ප්‍රකාශයක්?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim attributes a divisive election message to Tamil National Alliance MP M. A. Sumanthiran: that Sinhalese could be defeated only by voting for Sajith Premadasa. The review says a newspaper ran a headline making that allegation on November 13, 2019, but notes that the full newspaper article was not available to the fact-checkers. It therefore examined the speech identified as the story’s basis, which Sumanthiran delivered in Tamil in Batticaloa on November 11, 2019. (S1: “2019 නොවැම්බර් 13 වන දා ‘සිංහලයා පැරදවිය හැක්කේ සජිත්ට ඡන්දය දුන්නොත් විතරයි. සුමන්තිරන් උතුරේ ජනතාවට කියයි !!’ යන ශීර්ෂ පාඨය ඇතුළත්ව පුවත් ලිපියක් පළ වී තිබෙනවා.”; “සුමන්තිරන් විසින් 2019 නොවැම්බර් 11 දින මඩකලපුවේදී දමිළ භාෂාවෙන් සිදු කරන ලද , කතාවක ඇතුලත් සජීවී වීඩියෝවක්.”) The fact-checkers say they reviewed the full speech with assistance from Fact Crescendo’s Tamil team. Their account is that Sumanthiran urged votes for Premadasa because he could speak for Tamil and Muslim minorities. They report that the speech did not say to vote for Premadasa in order to defeat Sinhalese; rather, it referred to minority votes mattering in the presidential election and asked people to help Premadasa win. This directly addresses the alleged wording in the claim, while distinguishing it from the appeal for minority representation described in the speech. (S1: “මෙම දේශනයේ සම්පූර්ණ සාකච්ඡාව අප Fact Crescendo දමිළ කණ්ඩායමේ සහය ඇතිව විමර්ශනය කරනු ලැබුවා.”; “සුළු ජාතීන් වෙනුවෙන් හඬක් නැගිය හැකි පුද්ගලයා වන්නේ, සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා බැවින් ඔහුට ඡන්දය ලබා දෙන ලෙසයි.”; “එහි කිසිඳු අවස්ථාවක ‘සිංහලයින් පරාද කිරීම’ සඳහා සජිත්ට ඡන්දය ලබා දෙන ලෙස සුමන්තිරන් පවසන්නේ නැහැ.”) The review also reports that Sumanthiran rejected the allegation and said he had complained to election and police authorities and intended legal action against the newspapers. Its conclusion is based on the video review and describes the circulating claim as a false interpretation of the speech. (S1: “මැතිවරණ කොමිසම, පොලිස්පති ඇතුළු පාර්ශව වෙත පැමිණිලි කර ඇති බවත්, ඒ පිළිබඳව කඩිනමින් විමර්ශන කරන ලෙසත්, අදාළ පුවත්පත්වලට එරෙහිව නීතිමය පියවර ගන්නා බවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී එම්.ඒ. සුමන්තිරන් මහතා පවසා තිබුණේ මෙලෙසින්.”; “සම්පූර්ණ වීඩියෝව නිරීක්ෂණය කිරීමේදී තහවුරු වූයේ සුමන්තිරන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයා විසින් එවැනි ප්‍රකාශයක් සිදු නොකරන බවයි.”)

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaElections & voting

මාලිමාවෙන් හෝ සමගි ජන බලවේගයෙන් මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරණයට බස් රථ යොදවා තිබූ අයුරු ද? (PHOTO)

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review investigated a circulating photograph presented as showing buses arriving in villages for election campaigning. The image was attributed in social-media posts and comments to the National People’s Power (NPP), while another post presented the same image as an occasion involving the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). The review therefore checked the photo’s provenance, rather than whether either party had ever used buses for campaigning.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaElections & voting

ඉෂන්කා ජහන්වී මාලිමාවට මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරණ කටයුතු කරන අයුරු?

Publisher’s rating: Altered

The claim concerns a photograph circulated as showing actress Ishanka Jahanvi wearing a shirt with the Malimawa symbol and promoting the National People’s Power. The review also notes a competing claim about the shirt’s design, but its investigation focused on whether the image showed her taking part in election campaigning: “ඉෂන්කා ජහන්වී නමැති රංගන ශිල්පිනිය විසින් ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ලකුණ වන මාලිමාවේ සලකුණ සහිත ටී-ෂර්ට් එකක් පැළඳ එම පක්ෂය ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරන අයුරු ලෙස හඟවමින් සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ ඡායාරූප සටහනක් සංසරණය වුණා.” The publisher says it checked Jahanvi’s official social-media accounts and found the photograph in question there. It reports that the sticker on the shirt in that image was not an election sticker: “නවක රංගන ශිල්පිණියෙකු වන ඉෂන්කා ජහන්වී විසින් කුමන හෝ පක්ෂයක් සඳහා ඉහත ඡායාරූප වල දැක්වෙන ලෙස මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරණයකට ඉදිරිපත් වී තිබේ ද, යන්න අප ඇයගේ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය නිල ගිණුම් හරහා පරීක්ෂා කරනු ලැබුවා. එහිදී අපට ඉහත සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඡායාරූප සටහනේ දැක්වෙන ආකාරයෙන් ඡායාරූපයක් අපට දැක ගන්නට ලැබුණු අතර එහි ඇය ඇඳ සිටි කමිසයේ ස්ටිකරය ඉහත දක්නට ලැබෙන මැතිවරණ ස්ටිකරයක් නොවන බවට තහවුරු වුණා.” Instead, the review identifies the photograph as coming from a promotional activity for Husma Foundation, which it describes as an organization supporting children with cancer. It says the circulated version was edited by removing the foundation’s shirt marking and replacing it with the Malimawa symbol: “ඉෂන්කා ජහන්වී විසින් එම අවස්ථාවේ ඇඳ සිටි ටී-ෂර්ටයේ “Husma Foundation” යොදා ඇති කොටස ඉවත්කරමින් ඒ වෙනුවට මාලිමාවේ සලකුණ යොදා ගනිමින් පහත දැක්වෙන පරිදි මෙම ව්‍යාජ ඡායාරුප සංස්කරණය සිදුකර තිබෙනවා.” Thus, the review’s account is that the image was altered to make a charitable promotional photograph appear to show election campaigning.

日本ファクトチェックセンターElections & voting

愛知県知事選で不正選挙があった

Publisher’s rating: 誤り

The review says media reported the incumbent’s victory at poll closing based on pre-election reporting, opinion polls and exit polls—a common practice called “zero-vote call.” It notes that the final count showed the incumbent won with 1,452,648 votes, or 67.5% of valid votes, and says the early announcement does not support claims of election fraud.

YouturnElections & voting

பிரச்சாரத்திற்கு வராதீர்கள்.. ப்ளீஸ்! பாஜகவிடம் கெஞ்சும் அதிமுக! ஈரோடு கிழக்கு சட்டமன்றத் தொகுதி இடைத் தேர்தல் பிரச்சாரத்திற்கு தங்களோடு வர வேண்டாமென பாஜகவினருக்கு செங்கோட்டையன் வேண்டுகோள்; பிரச்சார விளம்பரங்களில் பிரதமர் மோடி, அண்ணாமலை புகைப்படங்களை பயன்படுத்த வேண்டாமெனவும் அதிமுகவினருக்கு வாய்மொழி உத்தரவு. பாஜக மீதான பொதுமக்கள், சிறுபான்மையினரின் அதிருப்தியே அதிமுகவின் இந்த முடிவுக்கு காரணம் எனவும் தகவல்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

Vishvas NewsElections & voting

उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा निवडणूक च्या तोंडावर सोशल मीडिया वर एक चित्र व्हायरल होत आहे. यूजर्स आपल्या अकॉउंट वर हे चित्र पोस्ट करून दावा करत आहेत कि हे चित्र लखनऊ-आगरा एक्सप्रेस वे चे आहे आणि सोबतच लिहले आहे अखिलेश यादव जिंदाबाद.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim was that a picture circulating ahead of Uttar Pradesh’s assembly election showed the Lucknow–Agra Expressway and was associated with the slogan “Akhilesh Yadav zindabad.” Vishvas News investigated the image and concluded it was not from that expressway: it showed a location in Varia, Greece. The review describes a Facebook post by Neelam Yadav, also known as Neelu, dated February 5, which presented the picture as a view of the expressway. The review’s conclusion was that the viral attribution was false. [S1: “फेसबुक यूजर नीलम यादव उर्फ नीलू ने 5 फेब्रुवारी रोजी एक चित्र अपलोड करून दावा केला: ‘आओ तुम्हें चांद पे ले जाएँ ……..लखनऊ – आगरा एक्सप्रेस वे की एक खूबसूरत तस्वीर…#अखिलेश_यादव जिंदाबाद जिंदाबाद’”] [S1: “विश्वास न्यूज च्या तपासात लखनऊ-आगरा एक्‍सप्रेस-वे च्या नावावर व्हायरल होणारे चित्र हे ग्रीस च्या व्हेरिया शहराचे असल्याचे समजले.”] The review reports that its investigators searched for the image using Google’s reverse-image tool and found it on other websites, including photographyreel.com, which named photographer Argiris Karamouzas. They then checked Karamouzas’s social-media account and found the picture on his Facebook page, posted on February 21, 2019, with Varia, Greece identified as its location. The review also found the image on an Instagram account called Shoots Delight, posted on October 15, 2021, and attributing it to Karamouzas as a picture of Greece. These earlier posts support the conclusion that the image was misidentified as a Uttar Pradesh expressway scene. [S1: “गूगल रिव्हर्स टूल वर व्हायरल चित्र अपलोड केल्यावर सर्च केले, त्यात आम्हाला हे चित्र विविध वेबसाईट वर मिळाले. photographyreel.com वर देखील हे पब्लिश करण्यात आले होते. ह्यात फोटोग्राफर चे नाव आरजिरिस कारामॉउजास असल्याचे सांगितले गेले होते.”] [S1: “आम्हाला 21 फेब्रुवारी 2019 रोजी हे चित्र फेसबुक पेज वर सापडले. आम्हाला कळले कि हे चित्र ग्रीस व्हेरिया चे आहे.”] [S1: “हे चित्र शूट्स डिलाइट नावाच्या एका इन्स्ट्राग्राम अकाउंट वर देखील 15 ऑक्टोबर 2021 रोजी अपलोड केलेले मिळाले.”] As a further check, the review says it sent the image to Prateek Gupta, identified as the digital head of Dainik Jagran in Agra. Gupta said it was not a picture of the Agra–Lucknow Expressway, but was from Greece. This provides a separate location assessment alongside the image search and the earlier photographer-linked posts. [S1: “दैनिक जागरण, आगरा चे डिजिटल हेड प्रतीक गुप्‍ता ह्यांना संपर्क केला. त्यांना व्हायरल चित्र पाठवले. त्यांनी सांगितले कि हे चित्र आगरा-लखनऊ एक्‍सप्रेस-वे चे नाही. हे ग्रीस चे चित्र आहे.”]

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaElections & voting

මාලිමාව මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරණ වැඩසටහනකට සනත් ජයසූරිය එක් වුණා ද?

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim was that former cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya attended a National People’s Power (NPP) election campaign in Maharagama. The social media post placed the event at Vidhyakara Mawatha, Batadombagahawatta, in Sisila Uyana, and said it had taken place the previous Saturday, the 4th. A photograph of Jayasuriya was presented to support the claim. The review examined what the image showed and whether there was evidence of his participation in campaigning. It described the photograph as showing Jayasuriya in a car reading a single leaflet, rather than depicting him campaigning. The investigators also said they looked for other photographs of him taking part in campaign activity on that day, but found none beyond the circulated image. The review then reports that it asked Jayasuriya about the photograph. According to the article, he said he had not participated in any party’s election campaign; the leaflet had been given to him outside his home, and someone photographed him looking at it. The review therefore concluded that the image had been used misleadingly to imply that he supported or campaigned for the NPP. The evidence described is the image’s limited content, the absence of other campaign photographs found by the investigators, and Jayasuriya’s account of how the photograph was taken.

YouturnElections & voting

ஐரோப்பாவில் உள்ள தோழர்கள் எல்லாம் குடும்பம் குடும்பமாக #Vikramanக்கு தான் வாக்களித்தாக கூறினார்கள் பார் முழுவதும் இப்படி தோழரின் புகழ் பரவி இருந்தும் வீழ்ந்தது எப்படி? #Bigboss போன்ற கேளிக்கை நிகழ்ச்சிகளில் நடக்கும் வாக்கு எண்ணிக்கையையும் மறு கூட்டல் செய்ய சட்டம் இயற்ற வேண்டும்- செந்தில்வேல்

Publisher’s rating: Fake

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaElections & voting

ගාලු මුවදොර අරගලකරුවන් සියල්ල ම තනි පක්ෂයකින් මැතිවරණයට ?

Publisher’s rating: Explainer

The claim concerns a social-media post suggesting that all Galle Face protestors would contest the forthcoming local government elections under a single party. The review says the post drew on a report about people contesting with the Sri Lanka Socialist Party under the slogan “Let’s capture Colombo and change it,” and that this prompted questions about whether all protestors were represented by that party. The review’s central finding is that the people who chose to contest did not thereby represent the protest movement as a whole. [S1: “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ පළ වූ සටහනක් හේතුවෙන් මේ පිළිබඳව විමර්ශනය කරමින් අප සිදු කරන කරුණු පැහැදලි කිරීමක් පහතින්.”] [S1: “ශ්‍රී ලංකා සමාජවාදී පක්ෂය සමග එක් වී ඔවුන් මැතිවරණයට තරග කරන බවයි එම වෙබ් ලිපියේ සඳහන් කර තිබුණේ.”] To investigate, the reviewers say they sought views from several people and groups who had been prominent during the protests. They also caution that those they interviewed did not represent every protestor. The accounts show differing choices: some people said they would not run, while others were involved in election activity or supported individuals who chose to contest. For example, the review reports that Lahiru Weerasekara said he would not contest and would not use the protest’s name for election activity; it also reports that Eranga Gunasekara was working for the National People’s Power. [S1: “අරගල සමයේ එහි රැදී සිටි කණ්ඩායම් කිහිපයකින් අප මේ පිළිබඳව විමසීමක් කළා. කෙසේ වෙතත් අප මෙම අදහස් විමසීම ලබාගත් පිරිස්ද අරගල සමයේ කැපී පෙනුණු චරිත වුවත් සමස්ත අරගලකරුවන් නිරුපණය නොවන බව සැලකිය යුතුයි.”] [S1: “තම පක්ෂයෙන් වුවද, තමන් මැතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් නොවන බවත් කිසිසේත්ම අරගලය නම භාවිත නොකරන අතර”] [S1: “එරංග ගුණසේකර සමාජවාදී තරුණ සංගමයේ ජාතික සංවිධායක එරංග ගුණසේකර ද, ජාතික ජන බලවේගය වෙනුවෙන් පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණය සඳහා ක්‍රියාකරනු ලබනවා.”] The review further reports Anuruddha Bandara’s explanation that the protest movement was decentralized and comprised many people and organizations, and that no meeting had been held to decide the movement’s election position. It distinguishes individual or group participation from a collective decision to run as “Galle Face protestors.” Its conclusion is therefore not that nobody from the movement would contest: some did. Rather, the evidence described does not support presenting their participation as a single-party candidacy by all protestors. [S1: “එබැවින් ගාලුමුවදොර අරගලකරුවන් මැතිවරණය පිළිබදව තීරණය කිරීම සදහා රැස්වීමක් හෝ සිදු කර නැත.”] [S1: “අරගලයට දායක වූ පිරිසක් / සමහර සංවිධාන මැතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වන අතර පිරිසක් ඉදිරිපත් නොවී බලපෑම් කණ්ඩායමක් ලෙස හෝ වෙනත් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග තුලින් ඉදිරියට යනු ඇත .”]