The word indelible means cannot be removed. Some types of indelible ink have a very short shelf life because of the solvents used, which evaporate rapidly.

India, Philippines, Indonesia and other developing countries have used indelible in the form of electoral stain to prevent electoral fraud. The Election Commission in India has used indelible ink for many elections. Indonesia used it in their last election in Aceh. In Mali, the ink is applied to the fingernail.


Dear EC, the procedure of using the ink does not have to based on any countries, but then again what wrong if we are following some proven way of using the ink? Are you saying that the Malaysian voter are worst than voter in India, Indonesia and Mali? The presiding officer are not so dumb until he does not know how to apply the ink on the finger nail. Please don't insult the presiding officer.

Let look at the reason of not using the indelible ink

Federal Constitution: We have plenty of time to change this now. I belief the BN and PR will have 75% vote to amend the Federal Constitution for use of Indelible Ink

How many percentage of people have NATURAL BLACK Mark on their finger? Let say we choose right hand the little pinky. One one person has no right hand little pinky then the next finger on the right hand will be used. We have 10 fingers to go around, plus 10 toes if needed. What is the statistical chance of finding all impossibility?

Public Order and Security: This is the most laughable excuse I heard. The real reason is too obvious to hide! You have the TV, Radio, MSM and please use them to tell the voter to PROTECT YOUR LITTLE PINKY AT ALL COST. KEEP IT AS PINK AS A VIRGIN.

I include the 2 events reported by the The Star as follow: -

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*** The Star  Friday Feb 1, 2008***

PUTRAJAYA: Each polling stream in the coming general election will get two bottles of indelible black ink that will be applied to the left forefinger of voters.

The Election Commission said this amount of ink would be enough because each stream would only have a maximum of 700 voters.

“Assuming that 80% of the registered voters come out to cast their votes, this means there will be around 600 people. Two bottles of ink are sufficient,” said EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar when contacted by phone here yesterday.

For this general election, the commission said it would need 48,000 bottles of the ink. This will cost RM2.4mil and the whole procedure will take less than RM1mil to implement.


Wan Ahmad said only a small mark would be made on the finger and the ink would stay for about two weeks.
He said the ink would be imported from India and this would only be done when the general election was announced.

“We have to first be sure that elections are really taking place. We will then give the signal for it to be ordered. However, this should not be a problem and will arrive from India on time,” he said.

He said it had to be done this way because the ink had a very short shelf life because of its special chemical composition.

“It evaporates very easily,” he said.

Besides India, Wan Ahmad said the Philippines, Indonesia and many developing countries – especially those in Africa – also used indelible ink to prevent election fraud.

“The Election Commission in India has been using this same indelible ink for many elections. Indonesia used it for their last election in Aceh. In Mali, the ink is applied to the fingernail,” he said.

Wan Ahmad said he went to India to see what the ink looked like and bought a sample of it.

“However, our procedure on using it is not based on any country as it has to be developed to suit our own electoral rules,” he said.

Wan Ahmad said all presiding officers had been given a guidebook which had the procedures on the use of the indelible ink.

“In our last briefing with them, they have been told of the guidelines on conducting polls, including the use of the ink.

“In addition to this, the commission will issue another guide specifically on the actual procedures involving the use of the ink,” he said.

He said that if necessary, the EC would bring all the presiding officers together to give them a demonstration on how to apply the ink.



*** The Star Tuesday March 4, 2009 ***

PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission has cancelled the use of indelible ink in polling this Saturday, citing public order and security reasons.
Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said following a meeting held Tuesday, the EC was obliged to make a firm and final decision to ensure the smooth conduct of the 12th general election.

He said provisions to the law needed if the ink was to be used still could not affect the constitutional right of a voter to cast his vote, even a person whose fingernail had been marked with indelible ink or one who refuses to have his or her fingernail marked this way.

"From a practical point of view, the issuance of a ballot paper to such a voter would render the EC's proposal meaningless and will not bring about a positive result, whilst having the potential to create misunderstanding as well as altercations and arguments at polling stations," he said.

The Federal Constitution gives you the right to vote, and a black mark on your fingernail should not bar you from exercising this right, he said.

Abdul Rashid said there were also reports made to the police confirming that certain irresponsible quarters had purchased indelible ink from abroad with the intention of creating confusion and suspicion as to the status of voters.

"The EC views these issues seriously as the election process and public order and security cannot be compromised," he said.

The use of indelible ink was first proposed last June to safeguard against multiple or phantom voting. Abdul Rashid then said that the system would be subject to amendments to the Election (Conduct of Election) Regulation 1981.

He said indelible ink had been chosen over other measures, such as a biometric system working off the MyKad (chip-based identity card carried by all Malaysians above the age of 12) because such such smartcard readers would have cost about RM60,000 each, and every voting stream would have to be equipped with one. Using such a system would have cost in excess of RM30mil. The commission bought about 47,000 bottles of the indelible ink, manufactured in India, for RM2mil.

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