Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 01/08/2009 7:21 AM
NO POLITICS, PLEASE!: Students of the Jakarta State Islamic University rally in front of their campus in Ciputat, Tangerang, on Wednesday. They opposed the government’s plan to open polling stations on their campus ahead of the upcoming general elections. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is drafting a government regulation in-lieu-of-law, or perpu, that would allow voters to mark their ballots twice, in an attempt to minimize invalid ballots during the April legislative elections.
With such a regulation, voters will be allowed to check a political party’s logo and the name or number of a legislative candidate on their ballot, the national poll body added.
“But we are still discussing related issues to be included in the perpu, including validity of ballot papers that have been marked twice,” KPU member I Gde Putu Artha told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday.
The plan comes three month ahead of the legislative elections, scheduled for April 9.
Putu said the doublemarking concept had been proposed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The 2008 law allows voters to indicate choice with one mark only.
In the 2004 elections, voters were allowed to mark ballots twice.
Article 176 of the 2008 election law states that a ballot is considered valid if a voter marks either a legislative candidate’s name or a party logo.
Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) executive director Hadar avis Gumay hailed the regulation, saying most people were unaware of the new voting mechanism anyway.
“I hope the government can issue it as soon as possible to allow time to disseminate it among voters,”he said.
He said that if a voter marked a party’s column or logo, the vote would go to that political party, which would be used to determine the number of legislative seats it would secure.
If the voters mark the legislative candidate column, the vote would go directly to that aspirant to determine whether they would win a legislative seat.
“With the perpu, the voters can also only tick their favorite parties without ticking the names of their legislative candidates,”Hadar said.
He said that based on the open proportional system, votes secured by political parties could not be allocated to their respective legislative candidates.
The 2008 election law had stipulated a numerical order system to determine legislative seats for candidates, where a party could choose which candidates could fill the seats it had won.
However, the Constitutional Court recently scraped an article on this issue from the law, meaning legislature seats will go to candidates who secure the most votes in the elections.
Coordinator of the People’s Voters Education Network (JPPR), Jerry Sumampow, said he opposed the planned regulation for marking a ballot twice.
“I don’t see any urgent reason for such a perpu.
Marking twice could create problems as happened in the 2004 elections when many ballots were counted twice,” he said.
“Political parties in their campaigns have so far called for their supporters to mark their ballot once, and not twice. That’s why the perpu will make people more confused.”
Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto has said the regulation would smooth the upcoming elections and prevent possible poll-related conflicts.
