City to see more voters, less polling stations

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 06/09/2009 10:47 AM  |  City

The upcoming presidential election on July 8 will see each polling station serve 800 voters instead of 500 in the recent legislative elections, an official from the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) said.

"The presidential election is simpler than the legislative *elections*, because we only have three pairs of candidates and one kind of ballot," Jamaluddin F. Hasyim, head of the working group overseeing the electoral roll at the KPUD, said on Monday.

However, he added the commission had encouraged residents to check whether they had been registered in their neighborhoods, as registration problems were likely to reoccur.

"The problems will come up after the voting invitations are distributed. People who won't receive them will complain," he said.

Jamaluddin said there would only be 12,051 polling stations, 30 percent less than at the legislative elections.

Some 20 percent of the local election committee members, he said, would not be able to work at the polling stations for a number of reasons, which included being involved in election-related crimes during the legislative elections or health reasons.

He added voters could find out which polling station they were assigned to on the election invitation that would be distributed five days prior to the election day.

There were 7,668,058 registered voters on the updated electoral roll, he said, or 641,000 additional voters compared to the legislative elections.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said he had asked the commission to consider locating polling stations close to voters so they could reach them easily.

"Voters should be made aware of the polling stations' locations," he said, adding the commission should also consider weather conditions when determining where to set up polling stations.

Fauzi said he supported the presence of polling stations in Indonesian military housing complexes and hospitals.

He hoped the simpler presidential election would attract many voters.

"I hope people will not get confused, as the ballot is not complicated and there are only a few candidates," he said.

Fauzi said he would meet representatives of the presidential candidate teams who were expected to sign a peaceful election declaration on Tuesday. He said provincial administrations would back up the police with public order officers if necessary.

The Jakarta Police will deploy more than 20,000 officers to safeguard the presidential election.

According to a police monitoring report, there was no indication of possible clashes among parties.

"But we have to closely watch money politics," Wahyono said.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.