THE Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) will investigate reports of voters posting images of marked ballot papers on social media following the 16th Johor State Election, with the commission seeking to determine whether the images involved ordinary or postal voting.
EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the commission had identified several social media posts featuring completed ballot papers but had yet to confirm where and under what circumstances the images were taken.
"We have seen several social media posts where some parties uploaded images of marked ballot papers.
"However, we cannot determine whether these images were taken inside polling stations during normal voting or whether they involved postal voters," he said.
Ramlan said the EC would conduct a closer review to prevent similar incidents, particularly among ordinary voters, in future elections.
He added that EC would continue publishing unofficial election results through live social media broadcasts following positive public feedback from the initiative introduced during a previous by-election.
"We are sharing the information we have because it is no longer confidential as it is taken from Form 14.
"We believe it is more appropriate to share unofficial results based on the data available to us," he said.
The 16th Johor State Election ended on Saturday with Barisan Nasional securing a landslide victory, winning 48 of the 56 state assembly seats, while Pakatan Harapan captured the remaining eight seats. - July 12, 2026
