Fact Check: Viral WhatsApp Message Claiming Women Wearing Nail Paint Can't Vote Is Fake 

Fact Check: An Election Commission of India official rubbished the viral WhatsApp forward. 

Screenshot of a WhatsApp message shared with a false claim

Fact Check: A viral message "forwarded many times" on WhatsApp claims that women voters should remove any nail polish from their fingernails before going to cast their votes, failing which they will not be allowed to vote. The claim is fake. BOOM reached out to an Election Commission of India (ECI) official who rubbished the viral forward.

Voting for the 5th phase of the Lok Sabha 2024 is currently ongoing in several states on May 20, 2024, with the last two phases scheduled for May 25 and June 1. Meanwhile counting of votes and results will be declared on June 4.

The viral message reads, "Attention to All Ladies, Please remove Nail polish from fingers or else you will not be allowed to Vote". 

BOOM also received the viral message on our WhatsApp number (7700906588) inquiring about its authenticity.

FACT CHECK

BOOM found that the viral message is fake, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced any such instruction to women voters to remove nail polish applied to their fingernails before going to vote.

We reached out to ECI joint director Anuj Chandak, who dismissed the viral message and stated that it was fake. Chadak further added telling BOOM that, "Indelible ink is applied to the skin and nail both."

Two of BOOM's fact-checkers also independently confirmed with polling booth officials that the viral message is fake, while going to cast their vote.

Additionally, we could not find any recent ECI guidelines which stated that voters with nail polish will not be allowed to vote. 

We also found several examples of women voters voting in the Lok Sabha election 2024 with nail polish on their fingernails. 

The polling process by ECI can be seen below: 

Watch BOOM's explainer on how to vote below. 

This story was originally published by Boom as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline, excerpt, and the opening introduction para, this story has not been edited by ABPLIVE staff.