KUALA LUMPUR - THE home of Malaysia's election chief, who has been surrounded by controversy in the run-up to weekend polls, has been vandalised with red paint thrown at it on Thursday, police said.

'They used red paint and it was splashed all over the gates. We are still investigating who is behind this,' deputy police chief Ismail Omar said after the early-morning attack.

Election Commission chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman triggered an uproar this week by announcing the cancellation of plans to use indelible ink to mark voters' fingers in Saturday's general elections.

Mr Abdul Rashid said authorities had uncovered a plot to sabotage the polls by using smuggled ink to mark unsuspecting voters before they cast their ballot - an explanation opposition parties dismissed as 'ludicrous'.

Electoral reform campaigners accused Mr Abdul Rashid of being in league with the ruling coalition and said the decision was a last-minute attempt to keep the polls rigged in the face of an upswell of support for the opposition.

Mr Ismail said police are investigating if the attack on his home was related to the row.

'It could be the reason but we are still investigating. It is still too early to say,' he said, adding that no arrests had been made.

Human Rights Watch said this week that Malaysians will be denied a fair vote on Saturday, accusing the government of muzzling the opposition and manipulating the electoral process.