Vote counting requires strict monitoring

The Jakarta Post ,  JAKARTA   |  Thu, 04/09/2009 10:48 AM  |  Election 2009

New voting procedures greatly raise the possibility of manipulation and fraud, including vote buying, false ballots and voter names, during election day and vote counting.

Election monitoring groups vowed Wednesday they would strictly monitor the voting and counting process, although they accepted the complex new procedures would slow the counting of ballots and the announcing of winners.

“We believe many things might happen during vote counting, especially if people are tired after the long elections day,” a member of the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), Wahidah Suaib, said Wednesday.

“We have made a simulation involving 350 voters. The vote counting process for the House
of Representative [DPR] members and Regional Representatives Council [DPD] was not finished until after 6 p.m.”

Wahidah added if polling station working committees (KPPS) also had to count votes for regional councils, the process would not finish until the middle of the night, assuming the polling stations’ witnesses agreed with the results.

“If they don’t agree, it might take much longer. Perhaps until morning.”

Hadar Nafis Gumay of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) had a similar opinion, saying the vote counting process was complicated and would be easy to manipulate by certain people or parties.

“The polling stations’ working committees will have to work together to prevent fraud.”
He said fraud usually occurred at subdistrict and district levels.

According to Wahidah, the election law stipulated the vote counting process be finished before 6 p.m.

“If we pass that time, we have violated the law. But I think it is better than to count the votes next day, because manipulation could occur more easily,” she said.

“There are many things voters should be on alert for in this election, like vote buying, intimidation or violence, the neutrality of security officers, their right to vote, double voter lists, election logistics, and the vote counting process.”

Hadar said vote buying had been emerging in the past two days, with parties or legislative candidates eager to bribe voters.

“Of course it will be difficult to prove this, but it is happening now.”

Meanwhile, Wahida said the elections supervisory body and 14 other monitoring groups were ready to closely monitor the legislative elections.

Among the groups are Cetro, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), the People’s Voters Education Network (JPPR), the Indonesian Parliamentary Watchdog (Formappi), Lima Indonesia and the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring (KIPP).

“We will monitor certain polling stations in Jakarta such as at hospitals, military compounds and slum areas,” Wahidah said.

According to Wahidah, military compounds needed to be monitored to assure their neutrality.
“We are also concerned with slum areas, as we know people in these areas are easily manipulated,” she said. (naf)

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