PUTRAJAYA, July 5 ― The Kuala Besut by-election will see the Election Commission (EC) trot out a new version of the heavily-criticised indelible ink introduced in Election 2013 that voters complained was easily removed.

Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof also announced that there will be no live telecast of the vote counting process in the first by-election since the May 5 polls, following a suggestion yesterday by Communications

Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek for RTM to provide such coverage in a bid to allay concerns of electoral fraud.

“I believe the presence of the counting agents should suffice,” he told reporters after announcing the date for the Kuala Besut state seat vote in Terengganu.

On the ink, Abdul Aziz said the EC was now in the process of getting a new set of ink from a different supplier.

“We are in the process of doing so,” he said after admitting to shortcomings in the ink used during the 13th general election.

“We take into consideration the feedback (sic) and try to get better ink to avoid any weaknesses... it will be a different supplier.

“The percentage of the silver nitrate will be announced later but we will ensure it remains (in the ink),” he said.

Controversy over the ink deepened last week when Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim appeared to communicate that even the 1 per cent of silver nitrate had not been present, telling Parliament last week that there were “no chemicals” in the ink.

The EC maintained that the ink contained silver nitrate to make it indelible, arguing that it was likely classified as a metal, instead of a chemical, adding that food colouring was used to turn the indelible ink red for early voters and dark blue for ordinary voters.

Meanwhile on proposals to broadcast the counting process live, Abdul Aziz said the idea could be considered although it needed to be studied first.

Among the issues that must be looked into is if there are laws that would allow government-owned Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) to place its cameras in the vote-counting rooms.

He indicated that the EC currently has strict rules on those who are allowed to go into the tallying room.

“At the moment, a limited number are permitted in the counting room — candidate agent, [polling centre chief], EC clerks and a few others permitted by the EC,” he said.

The commission earlier set July 24 for polling in the Kuala Besut by-election while nomination is on July 12, meaning parties will have a 12-day campaign period.