Malaysia’s hopes of staging the most transparent elections in its history was dealt a serious blow when the Election Commission(EC) announced that it had scrapped the plan to use indelible ink in Election 2008.
Under the EC plan, the ink would have been applied on a voter’s fingernail only after he voted, and not before. It was meant to discourage multiple-voting. The EC has been saying all along that it is committed to having more transparent polls, using transparent boxes and cleaning up the electoral rolls.
blow to clean election image
The cancellation of the use of indelible ink would be interpreted as the EC is working hand-in-hand with the Barisan Nasional(BN) to cheat in the elections. It is likely to galvanize the Opposition in the home stretch and bring back the spectra of phantom voters – the presence of unregistered voters.
The EC said it reached the decision after questions were raised over the sanctity of indelible ink, with reports that some people had corrupted the plan by importing consignments of the ink from Thailand. The decision brought howls of protests from the Opposition and it is certainly going to invite serious scrutiny in the international media, which have in the past month reported widely on steps to make elections here more transparent.
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