Claim
An old video showing a man removing voting slips from a VVPAT machine and putting them in a black envelope is viral online with a false claim that it shows Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers engaging in booth capturing in Manipur. The video is being falsely connected to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. It is being shared with the caption, "Booth capturing in Manipur by BJP. Please share all over the world to see the reality in India that no mainstream media shows you."
Fact
BOOM had debunked the video recently and in December 2022 when it went viral with the similar false claim that it showed BJP workers engaging in EVM fraud in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. We had, at that time, reached out to SN Katara, the Deputy Election Officer in Bhavnagar, who clarified that the video showed no wrongdoing. "After the counting is over, the slips are transferred to the black cover. The leftover roll is then to be put aside. The EVMs go their own way, and this is how the slips are taken out of the VVPAT. The procedure is being followed properly," Katara said. DK Parekh, the then District Election Officer and Collector of Bhavnagar, told BOOM, "To maintain transparency during the election, we videograph this process and even invite the candidates to be present during the same." However, he did add that the recording of this video was unauthorised, but that the process shown in it was "in accordance with all the rules (of the ECI)". A circular released by the ECI regarding removal of VVPAT slips after completion of counting of votes detailed a process similar to the one seen in the viral video.