Putrajaya (Malaysia), Feb. 23: The Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) has bought in 47,000 bottles of indelible black ink from India, which will be distributed to the states by next week.

The Star quoted EC secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohamad Noor as saying on Friday that each state would receive the appropriate number of inkbottles according to the voter population in each parliamentary and state constituency.

The indelible ink, costing over RM 2million, will make its first appearance in a general election here.

It will be applied on the left forefinger just before a person casts the ballot and is said to stay on the finger for at least two weeks.

Kamaruzaman also reminded women to remove their nail polish before going to the polls on March 8, as it would be difficult to apply the ink otherwise.

Meanwhile, EC call centre set up here last week to check voters’ particulars in the electoral roll has received over 20,000 calls.

The call centre, open from 8 a. m. to midnight daily, has 10 hunting lines. (ANI)