[Groop]a Grooish thing

[Azamin Zainol Abidin]

No-show voter in remote Sarawak peeves election commission

                              11:57pm, Thu: (AFP) The election
commission deployed a helicopter and spent
                              thousands of ringgit so the only
registered voter in a remote area could cast his
                              ballot in Sarawak state elections - but he
failed to turn up, the official Bernama
                              news agency reported today.

                              The election commission sent a mobile team
by air to Long Luar, in the Belaga
                              constituency in Sarawak, where they set up
a polling station for a scheduled hour
                              between 7.30 and 8.30 am.

                              They waited, but there was no sign of the
unnamed voter, who apparently had
                              better things to do in the jungles and
hills surrounding his home.

                              The election commission spent almost
RM70,000 ringgit to fulfill the democratic
                              ideal of a ballot for all, Bernama said.

                              Apart from the lazy Long Luar voter the
elections went ahead smoothly, Bernama
                              said, particularly as a timely high tide
in riverine areas facilitated early polling.

                              Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's
ruling Barisan Nasional coalition is widely
                              tipped for an overwhelming victory in
Sarawak.