After the vote-counting delays during GE14 that kept Malaysians up till the wee hours of the morning, many are now more alert about the things that could go wrong during a general election.
In fact, a few problems did come up last Saturday. Here’s a recap of all the unexpected things that went horribly wrong during GE15 polling day.
As predicted, some parts of the country experienced heavy rains due to the ongoing monsoon season. This resulted in floods in the Baram (P220) constituency, Sarawak where people had to queue in knee-high waters to vote.
Some people even had to use sampans to arrive at the Kampung Long Bemang voting centre. Such dedication!
Although many preventative measures were probably taken to ensure that history didn’t repeat itself, blackouts still took place at a few polling stations.
According to TNB, the power failure at SK Guru Kalghidar in Ipoh and the Kepong Chinese Primary School was caused by wiring problems as well as disruption of the supply system through mobile power on the users’ part.
Whereas in Kolej Vokasional Gombak (SM Teknik, Gombak), the blackout was caused by “internal damage on the part of the user“.
It is a right and privilege to vote in the general election. Sadly, one 70-year-old Malaysian was robbed of his opportunity to exercise this right when “he found out that somebody had casted his vote on behalf of him“.
He was unable to vote because it appears that someone had forged his identity.
Meanwhile at the SK Setiawangsa polling station, another Malaysian had some issues casting her vote because some of her details were missing.
First, her name was not found on SK Setiawangsa’s voting registration sheet. Then, the SPR officers told her that there was no information on her voting centre and her DUN status in the system.
She had previously voted before, so her name should’ve been registered in the system.
5. Voting in outfit with party’s logo
One of the rules of GE15 is that voters are not allowed to wear clothes or carry any equipment that display the names of candidates, political party symbols, logos or images during polling day.
However, on Saturday, Malaysians accused the Election Commission of having double standards when not one but TWO political leaders were spotted breaking this rule as they cast their votes.
Former Terengganu Menteri Besar and Barisan Nasional (BN) Terengganu chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Said wore a BN shirt bearing a partially covered up BN logo while PAS President Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang wore a green vest bearing his party’s logo.
As Malaysians held their breath and waited for the GE15 results on Sunday (Nov 20) morning, a street brawl between PH and PN supporters broke out.
According to Sin Chew, the brawl took place near the Clock Tower at Dataran Zero Kilometer Sungai Petani, Kedah.
What started off as each group just yelling at each other quickly escalated into a full on physical fight when supporters started throwing punches and using their coalition flags to attack one another.
Unfortunate events
Although the process of voting on Saturday was generally smooth, there were some unfortunate incidents such as the passing of two Election Commission (SPR) officers.
One of the officers was on duty at ACS Methodist National Secondary School, Jalan Raya Barat Klang when he suddenly died from Covid-19.
The other officer collapsed upon arriving at the polling station in Sekolah Kebangsaan Agama Lati, Kelantan before being pronounced dead.
A few days before GE15, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate in Padang Serai, Kedah, M. Karupaiya died while he was in the midst of campaigning for the election.
Shockingly, another death happened just a few hours before GE15 commenced.
PNs candidate for Tioman, Pahang, Yunus Ramli passed away at 3:30am due to heart complications.
Apart from candidates and SPR officers, there were also a few voters who passed away while waiting to cast their ballots and after casting their ballots.
Two of them were in Johor, one was in Kelantan and one was in Kuala Lumpur (KL) when they passed.
Those in Johor and Kelantan had health problems while the elderly man in Cheras, KL was found dead in his car just minutes after casting his ballot. May the deceased rest in peace.
Although there were some challenges during GE15, Malaysians pulled through with grace and managed to exercise their vote.
Here’s to a stable and compassionate government!
Also read: BN & PH in Perak to Form Unity Gov’t, But Hishammuddin Insists He’ll Never Work With PH
