Melaka polls: Pakatan’s Pengkalan Batu hopeful’s vote paused for two minutes over social media rumour

Pakatan Harapan’s Pengkalan Batu candidate Jason Tze-Xi Nathan casts his ballot for the Melaka state election at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Sultan Muhammad in Batu Berendam on November 14, 2026, after confusion over whether a candidate was allowed to vote. — Picture from Facebook/Jason Tze-Xi Nathan (子希)

By Ben Tan

First Published: Saturday, 14 Nov 2026 2:06 PM MYT

MELAKA, Nov 14 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for Pengkalan Batu Jason Tze-Xi Nathan says he committed no election violation when his voting was briefly halted at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Sultan Muhammad in Batu Berendam today.

He said the confusion arose because the presiding officer was unsure whether a candidate was allowed to vote.

Sinar Harian and Malaysia Gazette reported that the officer paused the process to seek clarification from his superiors after seeing a social media group message claiming candidates could not vote.

“The incident occurred when I arrived at the polling station at 9am and was receiving my ballot paper.

“The process resumed about two minutes later, once confirmation was received after the officer consulted his superiors,” Tze-Xi Nathan said.

He said he was eventually allowed to cast his vote.

He said he is a registered voter in Pengkalan Batu and had voted at the same polling station before.

He stressed that being a candidate did not strip him of his right to vote as a registered voter.

However, he did not fault the officer, saying the man might be new to the role.

“I don’t blame him, as he appeared quite young and it may well have been his first time serving as a presiding officer.

“Furthermore, seeking clarification from his superiors to resolve the situation was well within his authority,” he was quoted as saying.

Tze-Xi Nathan is in a four-way fight in Pengkalan Batu against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Siti Aisyah Mahmood, Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) candidate Goh Han Koon and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) candidate Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee.

There are 25,948 registered voters in Pengkalan Batu for this state election.