Those who did not appear on the voters roll and others who did not want to take part in the run-off, bought red pens and ink to paint their index finger as a sign of having cast their vote. The leaders who had compiled a register of all residents in their area would then tick the names of all people with red ink. Those whose names were not ticked were threatened with unspecified action.
Those on the voters roll went out to cast their protest vote, while other spoiled the ballot paper. In Midlands a total number of 355 400 people cast their votes with 19 438 spoiling the ballot. Â