Posts share outdated article about 'mismatch' in Maharashtra election voting figures

The screenshot of the news graphic was shared in an X post on November 26, 2024.

Text on the graphic, posted on the Instagram account of Indian online news outlet The Wire, read, "5,04,313 'Additional' Votes? Maharashtra Data Mismatch Between Votes Polled and Counted".

The X post added that the mismatch "raises serious questions about the credibility of our democratic process".

"Will the [Election Commission of India] provide clarity on this?"

Image

Screenshot of the misleading X post, captured on December 4, 2024

The image was shared in similar posts on X here, as well as on Facebook here and here.

They circulated as vote counts trickled in, showing the coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party dominated the state elections in Maharashtra (archived link).

The posts, however, shared a screenshot from an outdated article that The Wire corrected.

'Misleading and inaccurate'

A keyword search on Google led to a response to The Wire article issued by the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra state and posted on their verified X account on November 26 (archived link).

The letter to The Wire's editor was also posted on the chief electoral officer's website (archived link).

Image

Screenshot of the clarification issued by Maharashtra's chief electoral officer

It said the article was "misleading and inaccurate, written and published in a haste without accounting for the accurate details".

The chief electoral officer wrote that there were 64,088,195 votes cast on electronic voting machines, but the article failed to also account for 538,225 postal ballots.

Voter turnout data was also published on the chief electoral officer's website on November 22 (archived link).

They said the total votes polled comes to 64,626,420, and the total votes counted comes out to 64,592,508.

"Hence the total votes counted are not more than total votes polled," the officer wrote.

Updated article

Following the chief electoral officer's clarification, The Wire updated their article and added an editor's note (archived link).

"An earlier version of this report did not account for the postal votes cast. The story was later updated with correct calculations. The initial error is regretted," it said.

The article's headline was also updated to say: "95 Constituencies, 33,912 Votes: Maharashtra Data Mismatch Between Votes Polled and Counted?" 

Below is a screenshot comparison of the screenshot used in the false posts (left) and the updated article (right):

Image

Screenshot comparison of the screenshot used in the misleading posts (left) and the updated article (right)

The Wire's updated article stated their analysis of voter data found the number of votes counted and the number of votes polled did not match in 95 constituencies, out of Maharashtra's 288 constituencies.

It said in 19 constituencies, more votes were counted than the sum of votes polled and postal ballots.

"The current discrepancies in the Maharashtra assembly elections bring renewed focus on the importance of data transparency and accuracy in the electoral process," the article added.

AFP has debunked other misinformation shared ahead of the state elections here, here and here.

Image