Despite assurances by the Election Commission (EC) that the indelible ink it is using for GE13 is indeed indelible, voters across the nation are having no trouble removing them, some by merely rubbing their index finger with blades of grass.

Malaysiakini journalist Aidila Razak reported that voters in Penampang, Sabah, were able to remove the 'indelible' ink from their fingers using blades of grass as they walked out of their voting centre this morning.

NONE One voter, Robert, 50, removed the ink within minutes by rubbing grass on it, with the senior citizen explaining that he tried to remove it out of curiosity.

Police officers on duty at Dewan Ramaya in Penampang, who as advance voters had voted April 30, too, no longer had any mark of the indelible ink on their fingers.

Some, however, have slight traces of pink ink under the nails.

In Lembah Pantai's Jalan Cenderai polling station some voters are observed complaining to Pakatan election workers outside the gates that the ink could be washed off.

The EC has maintained that the indelible ink will stay on the finger for at least seven days.

'Washed off with just water'

PAS deputy spiritual adviser Haron Din also had a similar tale, posting details and photos of how he too managed to scrub the 'indelible' ink off his finger with just water.

haron din facebook ink wash 050513 "I voted at 8.25am and my finger was inked. Arriving home at 8.50am, I tried to wash off the ink. I was shocked when the indelible ink came off. Only using normal water without any chemical solvent, I managed to remove the ink stain completely.

The candidate for Moyog, Bernard Lawrence Solibon of the Sabah opposition party Star, also found that the ink on his finger had run off.

"I didn't even put anything on it. The transfer may cause stains on ballot papers and spoil many votes," Solibon said when met.

Other GE candidates who have also reported having easily removed the ink after voting this morning were PKR Pasir Salak candidate Mustapha Kamil Ayub and PAS Youth chief and Temerloh candidate Nasrudin Hassan.

During early voting earlier this week, some military and personnel also complained that the indelible ink was washable and several police reports were lodged.

NONE However, the EC explained that the fault was human error, that some of its officers forgot to shake the bottles before applying the ink.

The commission later issued a guideline asking its polling staff to shake the ink bottles well before using it to ink voters' fingers and to repeatedly shake the bottles every two hours.

EC secretary Kamaruddin Baria dismissed worries that those who had already voted and washed the ink off their fingers could vote again, saying that traces of the ink would still be visible under a magnifying glass, even of those who had thoroughly scrubbed their fingers.

Removed in minutes with Clorox

Various accounts pouring into Malaysiakini mentioned various simple methods of cleaning off their ink stain, from ordinary soap, dishwashing liquid to ordinary detergent.

NONE Some voters have also reported that using ordinary kitchen Clorox will effectively remove all traces of the ink.

A voter this morning has even uploaded a video on Youtube demonstrating how he has removed his indelible ink after voting.

The voter from Bidor, Perak showed how the process took only several minutes.

Meanwhile, English daily The Star reported incumbent Terengganu Mentri Besar Ahmad Said as saying that the use of indelible ink in GE13 was "a step backward" for the country.

"The Election Commission has always done its job well, and after casting my vote today, I can tell you that there is no room for fraud.

"Some countries where citizens don't have identification cards may have to still use ink like this, it is unnecessary here.

"But since certain quarters insisted on using indelible ink, we are going back to old-fashioned methods," Ahmad told reporters after casting his vote at SK Telok Kalong.