Update (June 14th 2019): We looked at the voter turnout app of the ECI again and the voter turnout numbers (EVM only) are now updated to 10,32,111 as of 14th June 2019. The app showed the turnout numbers as 10,27,983 on May 27th, 2019 (screenshot is in the article below) based on which the story was written. We are updating the rating as ‘Unverified’ and will update the article when we get a response from the returning officer.
A post questioning the authenticity of the EVMs in the elections is being shared by some users on Facebook claiming that there is a difference between the total voter turnout and the final EVM votes in the Machhlishahr Lok Sabha Constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post
The archived version of the post can be found here.
Claim: There is a difference of nearly 4000 votes between the total voter turnout on the polling day and the EVM votes on the result day.
Fact: The official sources of ECI showed the exact numbers given in the post as of May 27th 2019. But the numbers in the app now (as of June 14th 2019) show turnout as 10,32,111 matching the EVM count. Hence the claim made in the post remains Unverified.
The voter turnout in the Machhlishahr Lok Sabha Constituency, where the elections were held in the 6th phase, can be checked on the ‘Voter Turnout’ mobile app launched officially by the Election Commission of India. The voter turnout was found to be 55.7% i.e. 1027883 votes. Even the statistical information of UP elections on the UP CEO website shows the voting percentage to be 55.7 % in the Machhlishahr constituency. So, the voter turnout number given in the post is accurate.
The official result of the constituency can be checked on the results webpage of the ECI. According to the official result on the ECI website, the total EVM votes for all the candidates were found to be 10,32,111 votes i.e. 4000 votes more than the actual turnout. These numbers become important as the winning margin was just 181 votes in the Machhlishahr constituency. So, all the numbers given in the post are true.
For further clarity, FACTLY has written to the Returning Officer of the constituency. This article will be updated as and when we receive a response from the Returning Officer.
To sum it up, a difference of nearly 4000 votes between the total voter turnout and the final EVM votes in the Machhlishahr constituency is true.
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