KPU told to be transparent in regard to the electoral roll

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 07/02/2009 6:38 PM  |  Presidential Election

The Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto campaign team is questioning the voter registration process for the upcoming presidential election conducted by the General Elections Commission (KPU), saying the permanent electoral roll does not accommodate those who had not registered for the legislative elections in April.

Hasto Kristiyanto, the team’s spokesman, said the additional 5,129,573 eligible voters were too small, compared to the tens of millions of people who had not registered for the April polls.

“The number of extra voters is not significant given the findings of the massive electoral roll fiasco in the legislative elections,” Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Hasto told a press conference Thursday.

Various reports said the number of unregistered eligible voters ranged from 30 million to 40 million.

The KPU recently said that 176,395,015 people were on the permanent electoral roll for the presidential election, a 5-million increase from those who were eligible for the legislative polls.

Eka Santosa, a PDI-P legislator from the House of Representatives Commission II overseeing home affairs and regional autonomy, said the KPU was unable to explain where the additional voters came from.

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