THE Kedah and Penang PKR polls today ended disastrously, prompting the party’s election committee to call off the polls in Perlis and Perak tomorrow.

The committee also called off party polls in Negri Sembilan and Malacca on September 29.

It declared the Kedah results invalid after nine divisions could not proceed with the e-voting system, which was used for the first time. 

It said new dates would be fixed for Kedah, Perlis and Perak in due time. However, voting would proceed as scheduled for other states after nomination day for the Port Dickson by-election on September 30. 

However, the committee said it had accepted the results of the polls in Penang, despite some glitches earlier in the day.

“We accept the results from all 13 Penang divisions. There will be no changes unless there are formal objections,” the committee’s secretary Ismail Yusop said at a press conference in Seberang Jaya tonight.

The news irked a large group of Penang PKR members, who voiced their dissatisfaction with how the e-voting process had been conducted. 

They said there were many technical issues and cases of members’ names missing from the party’s electoral list. 

“Batal, batal!” some were heard shouting from the back of the room.

Ismail told the unhappy members they could file objections with the committee if they were not satisfied with the results.

Earlier at the press conference, he acknowledged that there had been issues throughout the voting process at certain polling centres.

He said the committee had identified several factors behind the problematic polls in Penang and Kedah.

One was the overwhelming response from members who wanted to vote, which exceeded their expectations, he said.

“There were some problems understanding the new e-voting system among the election workers – who were all volunteers – and the members, even though we had gone through training simulations with them. 

“There were also shortcomings in terms of technical support at the centres, which led to delays and anxiety among the members. 

“There was also confusion at some centres over the voting status of some members. Because it was everyone’s first time using the system, the process of checking names could not be handled smoothly. There were also many members to handle,” Ismail said.

However, he denied that the problems were due to the e-voting system itself, which he said functioned well throughout the day.

The committee’s explanations and announcement that  Kedah’s results would be cancelled but Penang’s accepted did not go down well with the angry crowd, which continued to demand that Penang’s results be nullified as well.

Tempers remained high as Ismail and committee chairman Rashid Din left the room, escorted by bodyguards.

A brief scuffle broke out as the disgruntled members continued shouting “batal” at them and some tried to block the door. 

During the commotion, someone also threw a chair, hitting a party member and causing him to bleed. – September 22, 2018.