KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission (EC) will continue to use indelible ink in the 14th general election with improvements, especially in terms of quality, said its deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

"The indelible ink will be used with some improvements, especially in terms of quality. We will study the ingredients and put a standard on ink quality," he told reporters after an appearance on Bernama TV Tuesday night.

He said the use of indelible ink was decided by the Parliamentary Select Committee and stated in election laws.

"The people must understand that we were using indelible ink for the first time, and surely there would have been shortcomings. We appointed a well-known company to produce the ink for GE13.

"Some 250,000 bottles of indelible ink were booked two months before GE13.

"We stored them in police lock-ups for safekeeping. Probably due to the long storage period, the ink content dropped and it became thinner," he said.

He slammed those who used bleach to remove the indelible ink wash and uploaded video on social networking sites to destroy the credibility of the EC.

On the alleged blackout during the counting process, Wan Ahmad said no such incident happened as he had confirmed it with all the returning officers.

"When I received information about the alleged blackout, I called the returning officers in all the states but was told no such thing occurred," he said.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad had previously said there was no power blackout during the counting of votes on polling day.

For more election stories, please visit The Star's GE13 site

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