A Malaysian woman died after she passed out just moments away from casting her vote in Negeri Sembilan, one of six states that held state polls on Saturday.

The 83-year-old who has not been identified collapsed at around 11am at a local primary school, the Tampin district police chief Anuwal Ab Wahab said in a statement.

He said that she lost consciousness shortly after she had dipped her finger in indelible ink meant to identify people who have voted, Malaysian media reported.

That would have been the final step before she would have received and filled in her ballot paper, an act she ultimately could not perform.

The woman was taken by her family to a clinic where she regained consciousness, said Superintendent Anuwal, but “her oxygen level was still dropping”.

“CPR was administered by a medical assistant but every effort taken to save the woman’s life was unsuccessful,” he added, referring to cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

She died at the clinic and an autopsy at a hospital’s forensic unit classified the cause as a “sudden death”.

Medical records also showed she suffered from hypertension.

Superintendent Anuwal said she had complained about pain in her legs, having recently returned from her umrah, a minor pilgrimage for Muslims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

She had walked from her car to the polling centre on Saturday, he added.

But the vote proved to be a final act she was not able to execute.