Fact Check: Is ECI Withholding Digital Voter Lists? Here’s What We Found

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected social media claims that electoral rolls for several states have been removed from its website. The commission stated that voters can access and download the rolls for all 36 states and Union territories. However, independent checks suggest otherwise, with some files failing to download despite the system indicating success.

Claims and Counterclaims

On Friday, 8 August, social media users alleged that electoral rolls for multiple states had been taken down following Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's accusation that the ECI manipulated the voters' list to enable voting fraud.

One user on X wrote: "E-Voter List pages from the websites of CEOs of states like Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are taken down. @ECISVEEP hits the panic button."

The ECI dismissed such claims, asserting that the electoral roll remains accessible for every state and Union territory.

Independent Verification Shows Glitch

South First conducted an independent test by visiting the official ECI portals to access electoral rolls from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In Maharashtra, after entering the required details and selecting a random constituency, the website displayed a "success" message - but no file was actually downloaded. The same issue occurred for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

A similar attempt was made for Karnataka, specifically for the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat - the same constituency where the Congress conducted its research into alleged voter list manipulation. Again, the system showed "success" but failed to produce a file.

The glitch persisted across Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, with identical outcomes. It remains unclear whether the missing files are the result of intentional removal or a technical problem with the ECI website.

Congress's Allegations
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the ECI had colluded with the BJP in a large-scale voter fraud operation aimed at influencing election results in favour of the ruling party.

According to Gandhi, Opposition INDIA bloc parties grew suspicious of possible vote rigging after election dates were changed or postponed in certain states. The Congress examined voters' lists and polling data from Mahadevapura and claimed to have found irregularities involving 1,00,250 votes.

Gandhi further alleged that the BJP secured 25 Lok Sabha seats with victory margins under 33,000 votes. "PM Modi needed to steal 25 seats to stay in power in 2024. This is why the EC is not giving us digital voter rolls," he claimed.