Mock poll video from Assam goes viral with misleading claims

The viral video shows a mock poll in Assam’s Karimganj before the actual voting process.

The first two phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections have ended. The first phase began on 19 April, followed by the second phase on 26 April. Moving forward, the third phase of the general elections is slated for 7 May. Several videos and images from different parts of the country are circulating on social media relating to election. Amidst this a video is going viral on social media, in which it is being claimed that the same voter has cast five consecutive votes in favour of BJP. While sharing the video the Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party are being accused of murdering democracy.

The caption states, “Murder Of Democracy In this viral video, a person is reportedly seen casting votes 5 times for Kripanath Mallah, the BJP Candidate from Karimganj PC of Assam. Will the Election Commission clarify? 

Let’s check the truth.

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The same video is going viral on Facebook as well.

Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by conducting a keyword search on Google and the results led us to an Indian Express report published on 29 April. According to the report, “Following the circulation of a video that purportedly showed a polling agent in Assam’s Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency voting five times on an EVM for the BJP candidate, the District Election Officer issued a show cause notice to polling officials.

The report adds, In a statement, the office of the DEO suggested that the video had been recorded during a “mock poll” before voting officially began. “As per procedure, polling agents are allowed to cast a few votes in favour of the candidate during mock poll. Statements of other polling agents are underway and polling officials have been served show cause notice in this regard,” the statement said. 

A mock poll is conducted prior to the official polling as part of the standard procedure to ensure the integrity of the electoral process, and the EVMs are reset to zero before the commencement of actual polling.

Upon further search, we found press release from the District Election Officer, Karimganj, posted by the official Twitter handle of the District Commissioner, Karimganj, on 28 April, 2024. The DEO confirmed that it was taken during mock poll and later on Close Result Clear (CRC) was done before the start of the actual polling. The press release adds that the person visible in the viral video is Abdul Sahid from Chenjur who is the Polling agent of Abdul Hameed, an independent candidate contesting from the Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency.

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Moving forward, we have come across Another press release issued by the District Election Officer on 28 April, 2024 reiterating that the video was taken only during the mock poll and not related to the actual polling, where there were no violations of procedure.

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The Election Commission of India also debunked the viral video in a tweet, dated 29 April, 2024. It states “A video is circulated on X with false claims on conduct of elections in #GE2024 The allegations made in this post are false & misleading. The video mentioned pertains to a mock poll in Assam, not actual poll. Already clarified by DEO Karimganj terming the allegation as “false and misleading”.

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All these evidences make it clear that the viral video shows a mock poll, which has no connection with the actual voting.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. The viral video shows a mock poll in Assam’s Karimganj before the actual voting process.