Nibong Tebal PKR member S Sanjay, who is gunning for the division leader’s post, said the incident began when his supporters complained that they could not vote for him.

“I was happy to see my supporters saying they will vote for me this morning. But as they left, many members said they were unable to hit number three, he told FMT.

A total of 105,056 PKR members in Kedah and Penang are eligible to vote in the first round of the party’s polls to choose division leaders, as well as central leadership council posts.

Over 800,000 members will cast their votes online in stages until November, using special tablets provided by the party.

Sanjay is contesting against incumbent Nibong Tebal division chief Mansor Othman, who is also the Penang PKR chief, and Maktar Shapee.

Other issues, he said, were long queues and inadequate polling staff.

Sanjay said he had approached the polling chief and requested for an objection form, before he was told to leave the centre.

Sanjay said an officer then attempted to grab his access pass, before pursuing him outside the polling centre.

In the incident recorded by Sanjay’s supporters, the officer was seen asking why Sanjay had gone into the polling centre and demanded for his pass.

Sanjay said he refused to give up his pass as he merely wanted to make a complaint over irregularities in the polling system.

He said voters he met outside the hall claimed they were unable to click on his name but were able to do so when they clicked on Mansor’s name.

“I have been denied a chance to be voted by my supporters. This is unfair. I had merely gone to the hall to get an objection form. I wanted to object in a civil way but the polling agent chased me out,” he said.

Earlier, a similar complaint over irregularities in the voting system had led to a fracas in the Merbok PKR division, forcing polling in eight of the 15 divisions in Kedah to be suspended.

FMT has contacted PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for comment on the polls and is awaiting his reply.