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Published: Thursday May 2, 2013 MYT 2:26:00 PM
Updated: Thursday May 2, 2013 MYT 4:26:28 PM

GE13: DAP mulls getting its polling agents to shake indelible ink bottles

By NELSON BENJAMIN, DESIREE TRESA GASPER and REGINA LEE


JOHOR BARU: DAP is looking at the possibility of getting all of its polling agents to shake every bottle of indelible ink ensure it cannot be washed off on polling day.

Party secretary general Lim Guan Eng said the explanation given by the Election Commission (EC) was not viable, and urged them to come up with a proper clarification.

He suggested that the EC seek guidance on the use of indelible ink from India, where it was used before.

Lim said that the ink should have been checked beforehand and officials informed about the need to shake the bottles.

Over in PETALING JAYA, PKR vice president Tian Chua said the problem of ink coming off was too widespread to be pinned down on human error.

"We can accept if it was just in one polling centre, but it occurred in so many constituencies," said Chua in a press conference in the party headquarters here Thursday.

He also said it was implausible that that the ink, which the EC claimed contained silver nitrate (the chemical that makes ink indelible), would be more effective if the bottle was shaken.

"Silver nitrate is absorbed into the skin. Even if the bottle is not shaken, how is it that none of it can stick to the skin after just a few hours?" he asked.

"On Sunday 13 million people would come to vote. It would be disastrous if the ink does not stick to their skin," he said.

Chua pointed the finger at EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, who was supposed to have supervised the purchase of quality indelible ink.

PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamarudin also said that an army officer came to her on Wednesday night after her ceramah, showing how the ink on his finger had completely come off after voting earlier in the morning.

"He didn't even use any special solvent, all he used was soap," she said.

Meanwhile, he said that the EC has called him together with his Pakatan colleagues for a meeting on Friday to discuss the matter.

It was previously reported that several security personnel and their spouses had lodged police reports after they found that the indelible ink painted on their fingers had washed off hours after it was painted on their fingers when they cast their early votes.

The EC later clarified that this was due to an oversight by the commission staff members who did not shake the bottles before using the ink.

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