A boat carrying general election ballots capsized Saturday in a river in the remote Malaysian jungle state of Sarawak, forcing officials to call for a re-poll in three locations, ap quoted an election official as saying. The boat, which was ferrying four election officials and two security personnel, overturned in strong currents, said Election Commission chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman. He said the officials had completed voting in one tribal community and were going to the next one to conduct polling when their boat capsized. «As a result of the incident, all the ballot papers including the marked ones ... became wet and could not be saved,» he said. The six officials were safe and unhurt. Abdul Rashid said re-polling would take place Sunday in the three places _ home to small indigenous tribal communities. Most of Sarawak on Borneo island is heavily forested with no roads, and the fastest way to reach some of the far-flung communities is by boat.
