Tests showed ink to mark voters was indeed indelible - Shahidan

To what extent the ink used to mark voters in the general election was indelible depended on how vigorous the attempts were to remove it, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Tests conducted on Election Commission (EC) officers and journalists on May 2 showed that the ink was indeed indelible, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

"The expiry date of the indelible ink was four months from the date of manufacture, and it was imported," he said in a written reply to Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut). He did not say when the ink was imported.

Shahidan said the ingredients of the ink included approved food colouring. Lim had raised questions on the indelible ink that was used for the first time in a general election in the country and on the cost of the 13th General Election held on May 5.