#VoteSelfie – Electoral Ink

Officials are urging people not to take selfies whilst voting; this is to prevent them from inadvertently showing other people’s voting decisions in the background.

I embarked on a Google. I assumed people would ignore the rules and that I would quickly and easily find #voteselfies. I was wrong. But, what I did find, were reams of Indian people showing off their fingers like this:

I was confused at first, what’s that all about? Maybe it’s common knowledge to others, but I didn’t know that many countries use an “electoral ink” or “electoral stain” to ensure people can’t vote more than once. Did you know that? I didn’t.

It makes good sense. I was kind of surprised at the polling station that I could simply turn up, give my name and address and have a vote. If I’d known it was going to be that simple, I would have woken up early and stolen all of my friend’s votes for a laugh. I’m so used to having to prove that I am who I say I am, that during such a private and important function I was a bit shocked that they didn’t need to see my birth certificate in triplicate.

In countries that use this method, electoral ink is generally applied to the left hand index finger, especially to the cuticle where it’s virtually impossible to remove quickly. It’s applied by special pens, dipping bottles, sprays or sponges.

The inks contain silver nitrate which reacts to UV light to produce a thorough stain. The stains often contain alcohol to quicken the drying process and a biocide to stop germs passing from one voter to the next.

The electoral ink stain typically stays on skin for 72–96 hours, lasting 2 to 4 weeks on the fingernail and cuticle area. In India, the electoral stain on the cuticle only disappears with new growth of the nail which can take up to 4 months.

The staining normally leaves a black or brown mark. However, in the Surinamese elections of 2005 they switched to orange to match the country’s flag and make it seem more appealing.

Some don’t believe the voting ink method is secure enough, apparently it’s possible to cover your finger with transparent glue before receiving the stain. This allows you to simply wash off the glue and the ink and return to vote again. They should come to our country and see how it’s done. No glue necessary here, just steal your mate’s name and address.

During the Zimbabwean presidential election in 2008, mobs attacked people without ink on their finger as a sign that they hadn’t voted.

As I said, I didn’t know about any of this but the list of countries that use electoral ink isn’t short by any means, so that implies that I am a dunce. Countries using the method include Afghanistan, Algeria, Benin, USA, Canada, Gambia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Japan, Jordan among many others.

Well… I’ve learned something new about the world today…

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