A fifth of elligible voters at risk of losing vote rights

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 08/20/2008 3:58 PM | National

A recent report by an independent auditor shows that 20 percent of the nation's 174 million eligible voters are at risk of losing their voting rights.

As a result, the General Election Commission (KPU) needs to reorganize its list of potential electoral voters, said the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) director, Cetro Hadar N Gumay.

"According to the elections law, the government's voter data, the list of potential electoral voters, will need to be readjusted or updated. But this hasn't been done by the KPU," Hadar told a media briefing on Wednesday.

LP3ES, Hadar said, recommended that the KPU not only update their data, but also extend the period of voter registration and temporarily reserve the voter list announcement.

"Data restructuring is necessary in order to derive high quality data to enhance the public's electoral participation," he said, adding that the process is necessary to account for increasing public voting awareness and electoral participation.

"The new electoral system was introduced precisely because of a shift of voting behavior from what used to be passive to active," Hadar said. "Naturally the public would need more time to digest."

He said data restructuring would only take a month and would not affect the election campaign and candidacy registration. (amr)

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