Use of indelible ink comes into force

The use of indelible ink for voting in general elections comes into force following it being gazetted on Feb 13, said Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof.

He said the EC has made plans to use indelible ink during the 13th general election.

However, he said the ink had yet to be purchased as it can only be used within three months.

"We cannot order the ink early because after three months, the ink will no longer be indelible," he said during an interview by Suhaimi Mohammad on the ‘Dialog' programme titled ‘Daftar dan Undi' (Register and Vote) aired live on RTM1 last night.

Abdul Aziz added: "It will take only two weeks to receive the ink. Our preparation in terms of the boxes, bottles and bottle lids is already underway."

He said the EC would put an order for the ink as soon as dissolution of Parliament is announced.

Ink will not be used for postal voters

Abdul Aziz said, however, the colour of the ink had yet to be determined and that it would not be used for postal voting.

He advised voters not to allow other parties to ink their fingers before arriving at voting centres to ensure their eligibility to vote is not compromised.

He said voters would have their left forefinger inked at their respective voting centres, adding that use of the ink had been approved by the Chemistry Department, Health Ministry and National Fatwa Committee.

On Dec 19, 2011, Abdul Aziz announced that the EC would use silver nitrate indelible ink for the 13th general election, which is different from the indelible ink proposed during the 2008 general election, but was not implemented after the method's effectiveness was questioned by various quarters.

- Bernama