Old Clip of EVM Being 'Destroyed' Falsely Linked To 2024 Lok Sabha Elections

This video is from Mysuru and shows a man destroying the ballot unit after casting his vote during state elections.

Fact-Check: Old, unrelated video about EVMs falsely linked to Lok Sabha elections. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

As India finished the second phase of polling, a video showing a man at a polling booth is being shared on social media platforms. The man can be seen throwing an Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) on the ground, following which he is tackled by officials and police officers.

• Those sharing wrote, "Presiding officers and security teams should be more careful and alert. They can go to any extent by the fear of defeat."

• Users also used hashtags such as "Election2024", "LokSabhaElections2024", "BharatModiJiKeSath" and more.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 39.6K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

We received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline.

Is this true?: The video is not recent and is from the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru, where a man was arrested for damaging an EVM machine during the Karnataka assembly elections in May 2023.

• The Vijayanagar Police, who arrested the man, stated that he was suffering from mental distress and was released after an investigation, said reports.

How did we find out?: At first, we divided the video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• A report by a news outlet named Star of Mysore (SOM) from 12 May 2023 carried a similar visual to the viral video.

Here is an archive of the post. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

According to the report, the Vijayanagar Police arrested a man for vandalising a ballot control unit at a polling booth in Hootagalli, which falls under the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru, during the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections.

• The arrested was identified as Shivamurthy, a 48-year-old individual who resides in Hootagalli.

• Shivamurthy, who went into a polling booth to cast his vote, signed the register and received the slip.

• He picked up the ballot unit and forcefully threw it on the ground. Following this, a polling staffer, policeman and armed paramilitary personnel stationed outside the booth took control of the situation, escorting him outside.

• Meanwhile, the Vijayanagar Police, who took custody of the individual, stated that he was mentally unstable and released him after an investigation.

Vijayavani, a Kannada-language newspaper uploaded the same video on their YouTube channel on 12 May 2023. It was uploaded with the title, "The man who broke the EVM machine while going to vote." (translated from Kannada to English using Google Translate)

A report by The Hindu from 12 May 2023 with the headline, "EVM control unit damaged by man suspected to be mentally unsound" was published.

• A man identified as Shivamurthy, who came to vote during the polling on 10 May, was suspected by the police of being mentally unsound after damaging the EVM control unit in Mysuru.

• Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Muthuraj informed The Hindu that the man was believed to be mentally unsound, and a case had been filed under Section 84 - act of a person of unsound mind - of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

• A police official stated that it is a non-cognizable offense and the accused has been granted bail.

The Karnataka assembly elections were held on 10 May and the results were declared on 13 May.

Conclusion: An old video from Karnataka is being linked to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

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