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anda Aceh: The Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP) has set the eligible voters’ list (DPT) in the Aceh gubernatorial elections scheduled for April 9, following a lengthy debate and controversy.

The decision was based on a plenary meeting with 23 KIP members at the regency level across the province, attended by the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) and campaign teams of candidates contesting the upcoming election.

“Upon the determination of the DPT through a plenary meeting, the DPT issue is regarded as resolved and no longer a problem for everyone,” said Aceh KIP commission member Akmal Abzal.

Based on the outcome of the plenary meeting, the KIP set the DPT at 3,244,680 eligible voters across the province, or a higher figure compared to that set on Jan. 7 of 3,227,586 voters.

“The increase is due to the additional number of first-time voters of around 88,494 people. The previous number of first-time voters was only 77,094 people,” said Akmal.

The DPT is made up of 1,600,858 female voters and 1,643,826 male voters, with the highest number of voters found in North Aceh with 377,780 people and the lowest number of voters in Sabang regency with 23,831.

The eligible voters will cast their ballots at 9,786 polling stations across the province.

In regards to the newly-approved bylaw, or qanun on elections, which allows people to show their identity cards to cast their votes, the KIP meeting decided that those listed in the DPT were allowed to vote.

“We won’t allow the use of ID cards to vote because we are equipped with a DPT which is valid for use during the election,” said Akmal.