KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — The Election Commission (EC) had good intentions in the incident where a Kuantan voter obtained a ballot paper again even after voting, outgoing chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof said.

Abdul Aziz told local Chinese-language paper Oriental Daily that the Kuantan incident happened after the EC attempted to speed up the queue on voting day.

“At that time it was because of our good intentions, it was because there was a long queue at the polling station, we subsequently took out a second electoral roll, in order to reduce the crowd during the peak period, in the second electoral roll, the name of the voter who had earlier cast his ballot was not crossed out.

“After this incident, we have also learnt a lesson and will never use this method again. No matter how long the queue is, we will only have one electoral roll there,” he was quoted in the interview published today.

Abdul Aziz was commenting on the case of Kuantan voter Mohd Fadhli Khaharruddin, who managed to obtain a second ballot paper after the indelible ink on his finger washed off and with his name not struck off the electoral roll.

The voter had reportedly approached the police to lodge a report after he received the second ballot paper, which he did not cast.

Mohd Fadhli was acquitted last December 9 of a 2014 charge over the alleged possession of a ballot paper without authority and for attempting to leave the voting area with it, but the prosecution had two days later filed an appeal at the High Court.

On the indelible ink that sparked controversy when it washed off easily from some voters’ fingers during the 13th general election, Abdul Aziz said those who had called for this method to be introduced were the same people who criticised him over it.

“So we were very careful after that. Otherwise if there are any mistakes, we are still the ones who will be criticised,” he was quoted saying, without naming the EC’s critics.

“Even if there is no indelible ink, the voting trends among Malaysian voters will still be the same. Even if there is no indelible ink, I believe most Malaysians will not attempt to commit fraud during voting,” he said.

Abdul Aziz said the EC faced a tough fight in correcting false rumours that were spread on social media during Election 2013, citing the alleged power cut on polling day in the Bentong seat in Pahang, which he had personally verified as a false claim after calling up the state EC head.

“But after news spread, people became very angry, and because of this they believed that the EC will cover up,” he said.

Citing the rumours of Bangladeshi nationals being allowed to vote during the 13th general elections, Abdul Aziz said that the public tended to believe claims that were made on social media at the expense of others.

“Some people look like Indians, but their name is a Chinese name because they were adopted. But you cannot rely on this alone to deny their right to vote,” he said.

Abdul Aziz, who had served in the civil service for over 40 years since 1973 and was a former Home Ministry secretary-general, formally took over as EC chief on December 31, 2008.

He will relinquish his post on January 24 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 66.