V

oter turnout in the country'€™s first-ever simultaneous regional elections on Wednesday was likely lower than expected by election organizers as many residents were reluctant to visit voting booths despite all-out efforts from members of local polling station committees.

In Padang, West Sumatra, a number of polling stations (TPS) were attended by only a fraction of voters, such as TPS 8 in Limau Manis subdistrict, Pauh district, which had 384 registered voters. As of 12 p.m., an hour before voting closed, only 170 people, less than 50 percent of those eligible, had cast their votes.

The TPS, located 40 meters from Andalas University, had been decorated to resemble a Minangkabau traditional wedding. Male poll workers guarding the ballot boxes and indelible ink wore all-black clothing and Muslim caps. Traditional gendang (drum) musicians were on hand to break the silence.

'€œWe purposely decorated the polling station with Minangkabau decorations and wore traditional clothing as a symbol, so the leader of West Sumatra in the next five years will adopt the [traditional] clothing of the people,'€ said TPS 8 working committee head Hendri Yusuf.

Radio announcer Andahayani claimed she did not cast her vote because there were no viable options. '€œTo me, none of them are appropriate. I'€™ve listened to their visions and programs, but none of them are suitable. I'€™d rather work than go to the polling station in Tabing, which is quite far away,'€ she said in Padang.

In North Sumatra, Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Syafrida R. Rasahan confirmed that the level of voter participation in the mayoral election in Medan was very low. She cited TPS 7 in Helvetia subdistrict, where around 155 of 600 registered voters cast their ballots.

'€œOverall, voter participation in the Medan mayoral election was only between 30 and 40 percent. This is very low. Every party, including poll organizers, must contemplate this,'€ Syafrida told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Similarly, voter turnout had reached 35 percent in Batam and Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, with one hour left of voting on Wednesday.

'€œI have asked election officers to continuously call on people to exercise their rights through loudspeakers at mosques and meeting halls until the last minutes,'€ Riau Islands Governor Agung Mulyana said during an inspection of a TPS in Batam.

Titi Anggraeni of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) said the public participation level in the elections was indeed lower than last year'€™s legislative and presidential elections, because of a lack of familiarization of candidates, adding that '€œmany people do not know who the candidates are'€.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo previously said that the government had instructed governors, regents and mayors to use available channels at all levels to raise people'€™s awareness of the importance of exercising their right to vote.

Not all efforts were fruitless, such as in Surakarta where a number of voters in Nusukan cast their votes inside a tourist bus that was temporarily turned into a polling station.

The unique polling station was able to draw in people to participate in the elections.

Meanwhile, the elections impressed dozens of civil society activist, intellectuals and journalists from several countries who visited polling stations in Bali.

Fadli from Batam, Ganug from Surakarta and Ni Komang Erviani from Denpasar also contributed to this story.