Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/03/2009 2:32 PM
Dozens of Islamic organizations have called on the government to issue a regulation-in-lieu-of-law (Perppu) to allow unregistered voters to cast a ballot in the upcoming presidential election by showing their identity card.
The call came from around 50 Islamic organizations, including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah, the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), the Mosque Council and the Association of Islamic Studies Alumni (KAHMI).
They expressed fear that millions of eligible voters would remain unregistered on the final list of voters, or electoral roll, as occurred in April's legislative elections.
"It is a matter of political will from the government to improve the quality of the election. If there is the will, there is still enough time to issue the Perppu," chairman of Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin, told reporters Tuesday.
He said the government could not close its eyes to the "poor" management of the legislative elections, where millions of people were denied their right to cast a vote.
"There must be improvements made to the electoral roll, as voting is a key aspect of human rights," he said.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) recently announced that the number of eligible voters on its final list had reached 176 million, about five million higher than the list used in the general elections.
The 2008 law on the presidential and vice presidential election stipulates that only people registered on the electoral roll are eligible to vote.
The Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization, questioned the action being taken by the polls body to update the electoral roll.
"We know there were about 40 million eligible voters who were not registered in the legislative elections, so how can the KPU claim they have now updated the list by only adding five million voters?" NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said at a press conference.
The Indonesian Voters Committee (Tepi) also called for the government to allow voters to use ID cards on election day to verify their identity.
"The call for ID cards to be used on election day is designed for residents who are not registered on the fixed voter list and still wish to exercise their right to cast a ballot," Jeirry Sumampow, Tepi's chairman, said Tuesday.
Around 36 million people were not registered on the electoral roll in the general elections, he said, out of a total overall 171 million eligible voters in the country.
"The new voter list *for the presidential election* shows an increase of just 5 million voters to 176 million. This increase is too small, and based on the numbers left out during the legislative elections, it seems many more will be forgotten in the upcoming vote," he said.
Jeirry said the use of ID cards was prone to fraud because a lot of Indonesians possessed more than one such card.
"The use of high-quality *staining* ink is essential to preventing fraud. A detailed cross-check of a voter's identity by party witnesses and polling officers at voting stations will also reduce the likelihood of fraud occurring," he said.
A voter's finger is marked with ink to indicate that he or she has cast a vote. However, during the recent legislative elections, the ink was easily erased, increasing the opportunity for voter fraud.
KPU chairman Abdul Hafidz Anshary said that the commission was still considering pushing the government to pass the regulation.
"We're still discussing the Perppu with the Home Affairs Ministry. Our only worry is that the use of ID cards as a requirement to vote might lead to the increasing instance of fraud, as there are a lot of Indonesians who have more than one ID card." (fmb)
