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KPU urged to carry out another election for an alleged 35 million disenfranchised voters
The Advocating Team for the People’s Right to Vote (TAHPR) urged the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Sunday to organize another election for the millions of people who were not able to vote in the presidential election
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The Advocating Team for the People’s Right to Vote (TAHPR) urged the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Sunday to organize another election for the millions of people who were not able to vote in the presidential election.
Around 35 million people were believed to have been denied their right to vote in the
July 8 presidential election because of the chaotic electoral roll (DPT), whereas voting is a constitutional and human right for all Indonesian citizens, THAPR spokesman Habiburokhman said at a conference on Sunday.
The KPU listed more than 176 million eligible voters in the July presidential election.
“Even though the Constitutional Court later ruled that citizens who were not registered in the DPT were allowed to vote by showing their identity cards along with family cards, such a decision failed to uphold people’s voting rights.”
“There were so many other disfranchised people in the July 8 election because they were not listed in the DPT or did not have family cards corresponding to their voting areas. Therefore we urge the KPU to carry out another election,” he said.
Yoseph, an Ambonese who resides in Depok, West Java, said the Constitutional Court’s ruling did not help him vote.
“I did bring my ID card and family card to a polling station in Depok, but I was rejected because my ID and family card were issued in Ambon so they said I could only submit my vote in Ambon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dedi Rochman, from Lampung, who works at a surveyor company in Kalimantan, also admitted he was not able to vote because the KPU did not provide enough additional ballots.
“I know I was not listed in the DPT, so when I heard about the Constitutional Court’s ruling I went back to my hometown in Lampung and brought both my ID card
and family card, but I still could not vote because the polling station I went to had run out of voting paper,” he said.
Arif Poyuono, a member of TAHPR, also the chairman of the State Owned Workers Union, said that as a result of the huge number of disenfranchised voters, they would file a lawsuit to the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday against the KPU and the President.
“We will sue the KPU as the executor of a disorderly presidential election and the President because the mess with the DPT started with the government’s electoral roll.”
