MELAKA: The Election Commission got an aye as well from those who were pleased with the systematic implementation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) at the polling stations.

       “It’s definitely a good job by the EC,” said Martin Theseira, who is a 65-year-old activist from the Portuguese Settlement here.

       He said that he felt safe when casting his vote yesterday.

       Denny Lim who was at the Tanjung Minyak polling station, was impressed with the way the voting process was conducted.

       “It was all in order and we took only a few minutes to finish casting our votes,” said Lim, 47.

       Bandar Hilir voter Michael Ching, 46, gave the thumbs up to the way the polling was conducted amid Covid-19 anxieties.

       “I was reluctant at first but other voters from the constituency told me that the EC had placed a mechanism to safeguard the safety of those casting their ballots,” he said.

       Maimunah Haron, 65, who voted in Rembia, said the EC should be praised for the way it conducted the polling process.

       “My villagers were also convinced to vote despite the initial fear of the rising number of Covid-19 cases,” she said.

       A stringer with The Star, Sardi Mahorm, said he had encouraged the elderly voters to cast their ballot after seeing the good SOP compliance at his Klebang constituency.

       “Many were doubtful about going out at first but word went around on the high level of SOP at the polling stations,” said Sardi, 52.

       Earlier, EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh visited two polling centres to ensure that the voting process went on smoothly, and that SOP compliance among the voters was observed.

       There were 217 polling centres involving 1,109 channels.

       The voting process is managed by 12,290 election officials in 28 state constituencies.