The National Election Committee (NEC) on Tuesday proved to journalists and participating political parties that there was no truth to social media allegations that the ink to be used in the July 29 polls is easily removable or can kill.

Making a demonstration at its Preah Norodom Boulevard headquarters to relevant stakeholders, the NEC showed that the ink, which will be applied to the fingertip after a voter turns in his ballot paper, cannot be erased.

NEC Operation Department director Hoeu Rong said the committee purchased 51,000 bottles of the ink from Indian company Mysore Paints & Varnish. It was enough to supply two bottles to each of the 20,000 polling stations, with more to spare in case of emergencies.

He said the ink cost $80,000. Cambodian People’s Party representative Chao Teng participated in the ink finger demonstration and vouched for its quality after using a variety of soaps and detergents to wash it off. ‘We did experiments together and saw with our own eyes. The ink cannot be erased, so the rumours are just lies,’ he said.