With a general election coming up soon, it’s no surprise that the rumour mill has been working overtime to churn out fake news. Still, the latest debate to hit social media has us floored. Beware, ladies—according to the proverbial grapevine, nail polish is a no-no for this GE15.
As you likely know, when voting, your fingers will be stained with indelible ink to prevent people from voting twice. What does this have to do with your manicure? Well, according to some, wearing nail polish will invalidate your right to vote as the nail polish will prevent the ink from staining your fingernail.
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Is there any truth to this? Well, put simply—no. So, where did the confusion come from? Well, according to The Star, the EC advised voters to skip their manicures before voting in GE15. Of course, this was taken to mean that there was truth to the rumour. However, in reality, the concern had more to do with ladies being resistant to ruining their expensive manicures with indelible ink.
To get to the bottom of the issue, we contacted the SPR through their hotline and their chat box to settle the debate once and for all, and here’s the response we got from the hotline (translated from Malay):
“Yes, you can wear nail polish. But you must ensure that the type of nail polish allows the ink to stick to the nail.”
The answer sounds pretty cut and dry. You can wear nail polish to vote, but you may want to avoid certain types of polish. Plus, SPR’s chat box operatives stated that it was “best to come with clean hands and fingers on Polling Day” when asked about wearing gel nails to the polls specifically, so it seems that the general advice is that it’s better to avoid wearing nail varnish altogether if possible.
In short, there is no official rule against wearing nail polish. However, if you’d like to err on the side of caution and give yourself some peace of mind, you might want to avoid sporting your nail art and leave your manicuring until after voting day is over.
READ: GE15 Malaysia: Everything you need to know as a voter
Besides, it would save you from ruining your nail art and wasting your hard-earned money as indelible ink can take anywhere up to five days to fully disappear from your skin. That said, it’s not a necessity, so there’s no reason to flock to the nail salon in a panic for an emergency polish removal.
TL;DR: You can most certainly vote with nail polish on, but you might not want to as you will have to dip your finger in indelible ink.
On that note, happy voting!
For more info on the general election, click here.
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