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RI sees increase in overseas voter participation
The Foreign Ministry says overseas voter participation during the 2014 legislative election was higher in comparison to the last election
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he Foreign Ministry says overseas voter participation during the 2014 legislative election was higher in comparison to the last election.
The ministry's Overseas Elections Committee (PPLN) head Wahid Supriyadi said overseas voter participation in this year's election was estimated to reach 30 percent.
'Based on raw calculation results collected from 89 PPLNs, the 22.3 percent voter turnout from the 2009 election has been exceeded. It is estimated that voter participation may reach 30 percent,' he said on the sidelines of a vote recapitulation meeting for overseas legislative elections at the General Elections Commission (KPU) headquarters in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Wahid said he appreciated the measures taken by the KPU to create proper voting mechanisms for Indonesian voters overseas. He said voting via drop boxes was one factor that had boosted voter participation.
According to official data, only 5,875 of the 44,801 voters located in Kuala Lumpur cast their ballots at polling stations, while 34,058 others cast their votes via drop boxes.
'This mechanism was quite effective,' said Wahid.
Nevertheless, he said, several challenges reportedly hampered the legislative poll abroad. Voter participation in a number of countries was very low, partly because voters were not well-acquainted with legislative candidates running in the election, according to Wahid.
Many voters in Middle Eastern countries faced difficulties casting their ballots. Eighty percent of Indonesians based in the region work as domestic helpers, and were unable to obtain permission from their employers to go to polling stations.
'We will evaluate the challenges and improve on them for the upcoming presidential election,' Wahid said. (idb/ebf)
