Overseas voting bodies face snags

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , New York | Tue, 11/04/2008 10:34 AM | National

Overseas voting bodies assisting the Indonesian 2009 general election are facing difficulties sending ballots via the post, informing voters about candidates and determining the total number of eligible voters.

These problems have left Indonesians living overseas, especially in the United States, pessimistic about the smooth running of the election.

"Will Indonesia change after the elections? The election procedures are still disorganized. I would prefer to be golput," said Tony Herman, an Indonesian migrant worker in New York. Golput refers to golongan putih: People who prefer not to cast their vote.

He said other Indonesian migrant workers in New York would also not be voting.

"We have received no information about the candidates or new political parties. We only know the old faces. We lack the passion to vote," said Tony, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years.

Sidin Putih Sembiring, head of election procedures in New York, called on the General Elections Commission (KPU) to start informing overseas voters about the parties' and candidates running in this election.

"Because candidates cannot make it to campaign in New York, it would be great if they could promote their programs through the Internet," he said.

However, Sidin was worried that information made available through the Internet would not reach all Indonesians, especially migrant workers.

"Such workers are difficult to reach," he said, adding that many workers might not register with Indonesian embassies or consulates to become eligible voters.

Around 11 million Indonesians are expected to cast their votes in the April 2009 legislative elections in 117 polling stations outside Indonesia. The number of eligible voters in New York is about 7,500.

In total, the KPU has listed the total number of voters at around 170 million. Their votes will decide the 560 lawmakers for the House of Representatives.

A total of 11,225 legislative candidates from 38 parties are running for election.

Bambang Antarikso, Indonesian Consul General in New York, said there was a possibility that the number of unregistered voters could outnumber registered ones.

To update data on eligible voters, the consul general called on Indonesians living in New York to download the registration form from www.indonesianewyork.org.

"Updating the data is important because the ballots will be sent through postal services. Without the update, the ballots may not reach the voters," he said.