PKR POLLS | The PKR election has hit a snag on its first day after nine of 15 division elections in Kedah had to be suspended.

Election committee secretary Ismail Yusop told Malaysiakini that problems with the e-voting system had triggered "tensions" among members who came to cast their votes earlier this morning.

"...The elections are postponed. There were a lot of technical issues," Ismail said when contacted for comments on a video which showed a mob of angry PKR members from its Merbok division.

"Although our officers have been trained, we have to accept that there were still technical issues with the bar codes and tablets used to vote, so that triggered tensions," he explained.

Several photographs of the incident also showed that police officers in riot gear were summoned to the scene.

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Aside from Merbok, the other divisions that have been suspended are Sungai Petani, Sik, Kulim-Bandar Baharu, Alor Setar, Langkawi, Baling, Jerai and Padang Serai.

Ismail said he was also notified of allegations that a candidate inside the Padang Serai voting centre had been “assisting” a PKR member to cast their vote, which was observed by another rival candidate. 

“So the matter was taken ‘outside’ (the hall) and that triggered tensions there,” he said. 

When asked about the new voting date for the postponed divisions, Ismail said it would be determined later, as the party still needed to proceed with other scheduled division elections nationwide from this weekend until Oct 28. 

“We also have to postpone the (internal party) election in Port Dickson, so we will have to rearrange the dates,” he added. 

Aside from Kedah PKR members, 55,132 Penang PKR members from 13 divisions are also casting their votes today. 

A total of 840,000 PKR members around the country are eligible to vote in the elections, with the full results expected to be announced during the party’s annual congress in November. 

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