Member-only story
There was already a queue of hundreds of Malaysian voters by the time the gates opened at my suburban polling station for the 14th general elections (GE14). While some were enthused to make their mark on Malaysia’s future, others seemed a little resigned yet determined to carry out what one recently retired civil servant in the queue said was a “citizen’s national service”.
There were numerous reports of long waits in huge queues of over two hours long, often double or more the time it took to cast a vote in the previous GE13. There were also reports of unstamped ballot papers and votes going into the wrong boxes, and men being turned away and asked to change out of their casual shorts before being allowed into the voting booths. And the inconsistent reports of the Election Commission (EC) allowing those caught up in the big queues to be allowed to vote even after the 5pm closing time if the voters were still in queue. Some of these irregularities were addressed by the Election Commission chairman at a lunchtime media conference today, who baldly assured Malaysians their votes would still be counted.
Much social media traffic today included posts of Malaysians showing off the indelible inked fingers of those who’ve already voted, and the typical Malaysian feasting that occurs soon afterwards. It has been as festive a day as the Malay word for elections implies, a festival of choice…
