CLAIM
A viral photo of what appears to be fake or prosthetic fingers lying on a table has been doing the rounds with the claim that they will be used to cast multiple votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
As per the standard Election Commission procedure, each voter’s forefinger is marked using indelible or semi-permanent ink after a vote is cast.
The use of fake fingers, as per the claim, would enable someone to cast another vote by covering up the earlier mark.
The photo has been shared by multiple users on Facebook and Twitter:
Several WebQoof readers also shared different versions of the post, that have been doing the rounds on WhatsApp:
THE TRUTH
A reverse image search of the photo used in the viral post revealed that it is not from India at all.
The search led to an ABC News report from 2013 tilted ‘Prosthetic Fingers Help Reform Japan's Feared Yakuza Gangsters’.
The report reveals how Shintaro Hayashi, a Japanese prosthetics maker was designing artificial fingers for ex-gangsters in Japan to help rehabilitate them.
Yakuza members are required to chop off their own digits to atone for serious offenses. The left pinkie is usually the first to go, followed by other digits in case of repeat offenses.
Because of this, those who manage to get out of the mafia have a hard time finding work – owing to the stigma attached to missing fingers in Japan.
Thus, the image can be traced back to Japan and has nothing to do with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
THE FAKE FINGER CONTROVERSY
While the post in circulation might be fake, there have been instances in the past when the ambitious plan has been put into action, albeit on a small scale.
An India Today report published before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017 revealed that a ring of prosthetic suppliers were ‘selling silicone fingers to political parties trying to rig the UP elections’.
The report revealed that distributors of prosthetics were not only ready to hawk fake fingers to facilitate bogus voting, they were also ready to give a thorough demo on how to get away with it.
"It (fake finger) won't be identified in voting. There's hardly any scrutiny. People (with defected limbs) wear them in (medical) examination for police and army recruitment drives and clear them. As such, there shouldn't be any issue in voting. Go there, cast it and come back," one of the distributors was quoted as saying in the report.
However, the number of fingers ordered, as per the report, were in the 50-300 range – loose change in contrast to the scale of electoral rigging suggested in the viral posts.
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