Let the PACA Party Begin

Malaysia's 15th General election was called on the 19th of November 2022. Having registered as both polling and counting agent, KH and I both woke up bright and early to start work at Institut Latihan Perindustrian Kuala Lumpur located beside the large KFC at Jalan Kuchai Lama. Parked our car at the fast food restaurant and walked over to the polling station. Although it wasn't open yet, and it was drizzling a little, there was already a queue of early birds. Collected our passes from the DAP polling station manager, and we were let in by the police officers at the gate. 

KH and I were assigned to different saluran. Voters who came to my saluran were at least 60 years old. Greeted the Elected Commission staff and made sure we were friendly with the leader of the saluran because he had the final say in most things. As the first (and only~ lack of volunteers) polling agents on duty we had the task verifying the setup. We were responsible for checking the ballot papers, ensuring the ballot box was empty, and that it was properly sealed. The job was pretty boring, double-checking the details of voters as the polling clerk read out the details. Since the setup was in a large hall instead of a small room, it was a tad difficult to hear. 

The clerks were all very nice, polite, and chatty. They were mindful of the elderly voters, and even complimented some for looking younger than their age. They even shared their surplus kuih-muih with me. During lunch time, I ate a pack of chicken rice in my car, then drove back home to vote a nearby secondary school. I was in and out of the classroom in 15 minutes because it was already the off-peak period. Based on observation, it is better to vote in the afternoon because most people want to do it in them morning. If you are confident enough, you could even sashay in 30 minutes before the closing time. Anyway, the PACA from MCA did turn up towards the end of the day, just for the counting. 

Once polling was closed, the ballot box was temporarily sealed. At first, the clerks wanted to finish their prayers first before commencing the counting, but they changed their minds. The first thing was count the number of ballots cast. Once the number was confirmed, the counting was started. Lots of technicalities on what constitutes as a valid, in doubt, or spoiled ballot. The clerk would hold up the ballot paper, and yell out who the vote was for. Bet the clerks were tired of saying, "PH". Haha. MCA's counting agent raised some objections for the heck of it. The leader of the saluran would entertain every objection and make a decision. Each ballot was properly sorted into a separate basket. In the end, the ballots were counted again and tallied against the original total. The spoiled votes were taken into consideration. The official results were recorded, and each PACA was given a copy. Finally, the ballots would be resealed in the box and later be taken a central station for the Seputeh constituency. 

With the form in hand, we headed to the DAP Seputeh command center for dinner. A projector was setup to monitor the results as they came in. Rained heavily as we got there. Gloomy weather, but it was a win for DAP. Teresa Kok was voted in as MP for Seputeh again. No surprises there.