Tempers flare as people try to cut the queue at polling station, two voters help manage crowd

Long queues formed around the Balai Mesyuarat Taman Bukit Serdang, Section 5, Seri Kembangan. - YAP CHEE HONG/ The Star.

SERI KEMBANGAN: Tempers flared as residents fought to get to the front of the line while trying to vote at the Balai Mesyuarat Taman Bukit Serdang polling station in Section 5 here.

Angry voters could be heard screaming "Queue up!" and "Lines are not based on your streams", outside the voting centre in this part of Selangor just outside Kuala Lumpur.

The situation worsened at about 10am when a crowd formed in front of the gate, trying their luck to beat the long lines (stretching about 1km) that had formed around the centre.

Two regular voters decided to volunteer to manage the crowd.

One of them, Brandan Tan, 25, said he decided to step in because the situation was getting out of hand.

"We were telling people to just queue up and that they shouldn't jump queue when their stream numbers were called out," he said.

A voter, Lam Pui Yue, 33, said she heard people complain about the messy queue and that waiting in line for hours could hamper the spirit to vote.

To ease the situation, raffia strings were later used to create lanes to move the lines faster.

The voting centre caters to about 6,800 people.