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Enthusiastic voters welcome presidential election
Enjoy the vote: Balinese comedians ask people to vote in a familiarization program during a Car Free Day in Renon, Denpasar on Sunday
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span class="inline inline-center">Enjoy the vote: Balinese comedians ask people to vote in a familiarization program during a Car Free Day in Renon, Denpasar on Sunday. Organized by the Denpasar General Elections Commission (KPUD), the program was aimed at encouraging the public to vote in the presidential election on July 9. JP/Zul Trio Anggono
Dewa Wiguna, a native of Buleleng who lives in Denpasar, has planned a trip from Denpasar to Buleleng on Tuesday afternoon, one day prior to the presidential election.
'I must be in Buleleng on election day, so I can cast my vote,' he said, adding that he had already received permission from the company where he worked in Denpasar.
Dewa admitted that he had abstained from voting, locally known as golongan putih or golput, for the legislative election in April as he had been working in Denpasar on election day.
'For the upcoming presidential election, I will not abstain again. I will cast my vote as this is an important moment for the fate of our country,' he declared.
Saichu Anwar, an Indonesian living in Australia has his own story.
Saichu, who has always been golput, decided to vote in this year's presidential election.
On Saturday afternoon, Saichu, who is studying in Australia, voted at the Indonesian Consulate General office in Sydney. He had to drive for 2.5 hours from Newcastle to reach Sydney on the day designated for voting.
'This is the first time in my life I have voted in an election. I used to be golput in both legislative and presidential elections,' he said.
'In my opinion, this year's election is a crucial moment. We can't let our country go back to the past,' Saichu said.
Bali General Election Commission (KPUD) has recorded at least 1,091 voters from outside the province who have confirmed their desire to cast their vote in Bali and who already have the A5 form. The A5 is the form that enables voters to cast their ballot at a different polling station from the one where they are registered on the final voter list (DPT).
Head of the commission, Dewa Ketut Wiarsa Raka Sandi, said the number of people requesting the A5 form obviously indicated voter enthusiasm. 'In this presidential election, in our observation, voters have a different characteristic compared to in the recent legislative election. Voters are enthusiastic to get their A5 form,' he said.
Most voters using the A5 form decided to cast their votes in Denpasar. From the 1,091 voters with the A5 form, 1,077 will cast their vote in Denpasar. Denpasar General Election Commission (KPUD Denpasar) head Gede Jhon Darmawan said that those requesting the form came from many provinces in Indonesia, but mostly from East Java and East Nusa Tenggara.
'We have coordinated with all Subdistrict Polling Committee (PPS) officials, as many additional voters will cast their votes in Denpasar,' Jhon said.
He added that voters using the A5 form could vote using the additional ballot papers, which amounted to only 2 percent of total people registered on the final voter list. 'All voters using the A5 form must be eligible to vote, and can do so as long as there are enough ballot papers,' he said.
Nearly 3 million eligible voters are expected to go to polling stations across Bali on Wednesday, selecting their favored candidate for president and vice president for the next five years. The presidential election is a head-to-head battle between two tickets, Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa and Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla.
