Problems with electoral roll still linger in Jakarta

With only one day until the presidential election, the Jakarta branch of the National Elections Commission reported Monday that it still had not settled some major issues regarding the electoral roll.

Problems related to the registration of eligible voters, such as people being registered multiple times and others not being recorded at all, continue to plague the electoral roll.

“We have heard similar reports. The figures [related to voter discrepancies] are not as large, but such a report needs to be followed up on immediately with the election drawing nearer,” a commission member, Sumarno, wrote on the city’s official website beritajakarta.com.

Sumarno said the commission would continue correcting the list right up until the eve of the election.  
“We keep asking for updates from the municipal and district election committees, including the election watchdogs,” he said.

Commission data shows there are 7,688,073 eligible voters in Jakarta, compared to 7,026,272 in April’s legislative elections.

Those residents registered on the electoral roll will be able to cast their votes at more than 12,500 polling stations across the city.

Separately, chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Election Supervisory Committee, Ramdansyah, said his committee had identified 18 subdistricts that were prone to conflict due to unresolved problems with the electoral roll.

Ramdansyah said these areas had seen the number of eligible voters soar by more than 25 percent compared to the April elections after re-registering all eligible voters.

In several subdistricts, such as Rawajati and Durentiga in Central Jakarta, the number of eligible voters registered on the electoral roll surged by more than 50 percent compared to the legislative election.  

“This significant surge in voters raises serious questions about the credibility of the data gathered by the National Election Commission,” Ramdansyah said.