AN INFOGRAPHIC claiming to show the early vote results for the 16th Negri Sembilan state election spread rapidly on social media on Monday (July 27), complete with detailed vote breakdowns, pie charts and what appeared to be official Election Commission branding.
The infographic purported to show party-by-party results including a breakdown of military and spouse votes, presented in a format designed to look like an official EC release.
Is the viral infographic showing Perikatan Nasional leading the Negri Sembilan early vote real?
Verdict:
FALSE
The Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) confirmed on its official Facebook page that the infographic is false and untrue, stamping it with "TIDAK BENAR" and reposting it so the public could identify and avoid sharing it.
The reason the infographic cannot be real is straightforward: early vote counting for the Negri Sembilan state election does not begin until 5pm on Aug 1, after the completion of normal voting. No results of any kind exist yet because the ballots have not been counted.
Any infographic claiming to show early vote tallies before that time is fabricated by definition.
The fake infographic claimed to show overall early vote results with detailed percentage breakdowns for each party and coalition. It also included a sub-table purporting to show how military personnel and their spouses voted, with specific vote counts and percentages attributed to individual parties.
The level of detail was designed to make the infographic appear credible. It included the EC logo, the Negri Sembilan state crest, location and date references, pie charts and a footnote stating that official results would only be announced by the EC after the counting process was completed on August 1, a touch of apparent transparency that ironically contradicted the infographic's own claim to be showing results.
Early voting for the Negri Sembilan state election took place on Monday, involving a total of 22,339 voters. Of those, 16,467 voted physically, comprising 11,293 military personnel and spouses and 5,174 police personnel and spouses. The remainder voted by post.
A total of 91.06% or 14,995 early voters cast their ballots, exceeding the 90% target set by the EC.
On Saturday (Aug 1), a total of 867,151 ordinary voters will head to the polls to elect their representatives.
The EC advised the public to refer only to official announcements for authentic election results.
"Avoid spreading or believing any false information as it affects the smooth running of the election process," the EC said.
