Trump advocating for paper ballots misrepresented as accusing India's Modi of election fraud
- Published on March 14, 2025 at 09:19
- 4 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India
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"Recently the newly elected US President Donald Trump told the world that Modi won the election by cheating 140 crore (1.4 billion) people," reads part of the Hindi-language caption to a Facebook video shared on March 2, 2025.
The video, which has been viewed more than 32,000 times, shows Trump speaking at a lectern about why he believes voting with paper ballots is superior to using electronic voting machines.
Hindi and English text overlaid on the video reads: "Trump again attacked Modi. Trump said modi win by EVM cheating and fooling 140 crore people. What did Modi's friend say on EVM?"
It was shared after Modi concluded a whistle-stop diplomatic tour in Washington, where he and Trump vowed to ramp up trade, rekindling a bond that defies the new US administration's punitive approach to much of the world (archived link).
The video was also shared over 2,000 times alongside similar claims elsewhere in Facebook and X posts.
India's opposition parties have often questioned the reliability of electronic voting machines, which the world's biggest democracy uses to count ballots faster, but the country's Election Commission said the electronic voting machines are "100 percent secure" (archived here and here).
While Trump has also repeatedly raised concerns about the use of electronic voting machines, suggesting they are less secure than paper ballots and would delay election results, there are no official reports he accused Modi of using the machines to cheat (archived link).
'We want paper ballots'
A keyword search on Google found that Trump told reporters while sitting next to Modi in the Oval Office that his administration was looking to move towards a system of paper ballots.
He had been asked whether he believed the US Agency for International Development (USAID), whose programs he has slashed, had a role in election interference in US elections in 2020 and Indian elections in 2024 (archived link).
A video of the exchange was uploaded on the verified YouTube channel of PBS Newshour on February 14 (archived link).
Trump's answer focuses on the suggestion that the 2020 US elections were rigged, and does not touch on India's use of electronic voting machines.
He said: "We're looking to go to a system now, much different, where (we have) one-day voting, voter ID, and we have to do that, and paper ballots, we want paper ballots."
Trump and Modi held a joint press conference after their meeting, and there was also no mention of India's use of electronic voting machines (archived link).
Governors working session
Keyword searches on Google found the video included in the false post shows Trump advocating for paper ballots at the Governors Working Session on February 22.
The president's full remarks were uploaded to the White House's verified YouTube channel (archived link).
The section used in the false posts was taken from the YouTube video's 50:09 mark.
Trump's only mention of India or Modi comes during an earlier section of the speech, where he discussed the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's "war on government waste, fraud and abuse".
At the 40-minute mark he says, "Twenty-one million dollars going to my friend Prime Minister Modi in India for voter turnout. We're giving 21 million dollars for voter turnout in India. What about us?"
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