The Home Ministry's online poll on the Internal Security Act ( ISA) came to an end at the stroke of midnight amid suspicion and denial of rigging.

And the conclusion? The majority wanted the government to continue with the review process of the law.

The final count revealed that a total of 41,314 responses were recorded for the most important of the five questions which read ' Apa yang anda mahu dari ISA ?' (What do you want from the ISA?).

The three optional answers given were 'Repeal', 'Continue with the review' and 'I am confused'.

Fifty-eight percent or 23,850 respondents wanted the review process to continue while 17,399 or 42 percent called for the law to be abolished. Whereas 65 people remained 'confused'.

As for the question, ' Pada pandangan anda, ISA adalah ..' (In your view, the ISA is...), the majority (21,444 or 57 percent) saw it as a 'preventive law' while 16,089 (42 percent) considered it to be 'draconian'.

There was a total 37,944 responses for this question.

NONE

Initially, the poll - which commenced on Aug 5 - saw an overwhelming number of respondents denouncing the legislation as draconian and calling for its repeal.

However, suddenly the figures shot up in favour of the government's move to review the law.

The sharp spike - of about 17,000 in two days - led some to wonder if the poll had been tampered with .

Suspicions were raised when almost all of the new voters only answered th abovementioned two of the five questions.

These two crucial questions drew twice the number of voters than three other questions, which asked respondents how they learned about the law, whether they understand it in total and if they were aware that the United States and United Kingdom had similar laws.

Ministry denies rigging

Home Ministry corporate communications chief Jamilah Taib denied that the website's editorial staff had rigged the poll.

NONE The poll came in the wake of a recent massive street protest against the law.

Led by opposition leaders, some 30,000 people jammed the traffic arteries of Kuala Lumpur, leading to the police firing tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.

Nearly 600 people were detained. Of this figure, 29 have been charged with illegal assembly and violating the Societies Act.

Crafted to deal with the communist insurgency in the 1960s, the ISA earned notoriety when it was used against political dissents.

The most notable crackdown being 'Ops Lalang' in 1987 which saw more than 100 people being detained during the tenure of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.