About 100 supporters of Pakatan Rakyat in Penang have lodged police reports over the unreliability of the indelible ink which was used to identify voters at the just-concluded general election.

Penang state executive councillor Abdul Malik Kassim said the coalition’s supporters from Tanjung and Bayan Baru parliamentary constituencies have been lodging reports over the matter since polling day on May 5.

NONE PKR Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said since police refused to accept more than 100 reports daily, the party’s supporters were lodging reports in batches.

He added that yesterday, 20 persons from Bayan Baru lodged a similar report, alleging that the indelible ink was unreliable at keeping voters from voting more than once and could be washed off easily.

Today, Abdul Malik and Sim, together with six others, lodged their reports at the Northeast Police Headquarters in Jalan Pattani at 5pm.

In his report, Abdul Malik said that after voting in Permatang Damar Laut, where his finger was marked with the ink by Election Commission officials, he washed his hands with water and was “shocked” to find that the ink could be washed away.

“We were told that the ink is indelible and could last on our fingers for about five days, so I was shocked to find that it is not indelible at all,” said Abdul Malik, who is Batu Maung assemblyperson.

Sim said that the failure of the indelible ink could be taken advantage of by certain quarters bent on cheating at the elections.

“Irresponsible quarters would take the opportunity to commit fraud during the polling process,” he added when met outside the police station.

“We believe the issue is against the law and the regulations concerning elections. The case is serious and should be thoroughly probed by the police,” he added.

PKR has launched a nationwide campaign to reveal incidents of alleged fraud involving the indelible ink during polling day.

Hundreds of the party’s supporters have been asked to lodge reports within the week claiming that the ink can be washed off easily.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim lodged a police report on this matter yesterday.