Malaysia’s Election Commission (EC) held a public demonstration here on Thursday to prove that the ink could last despite washing the finger several times, following an uproar over the incident. EC secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria invited a member of the press, who did advance voting, to participate in the demonstration, Free Malaysia Today reports. This time, the EC staff shook the indelible ink bottle for about 30 seconds before applying on the Sinar Harian reporter, Muhammad Shamsul Abd Ghani’s index finger. Later, Shamsul attempted to wash away the ink several times using disinfectant, spirit, vinegar and water but failed. The attempts only turned the ink colour from dark purple to dark red.
Earlier during the press conference, Kamaruddin admitted that the indelible ink may not last 100 percent on a person’s finger should they attempt to wash it away using various means.
But he assured that the ink stain would remain around the nail of the index finger once applied between five to seven days.
“That’s why we will also provide magnifying glasses to our staff to check the voter’s finger,” said Kamaruddin.
He also reiterated that ink applied on advance voters on Tuesday could be easily removed as the election staff could have been nervous and would have failed to follow instructions on how to prepare and apply the ink.
Full Article: Malaysia GE13: Election Commission holds demo on indelible ink.