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illions of people could lose their voting rights in the upcoming regional elections in February as the government and the House of Representatives insist that they have electronic identification cards (e-KTPs) to be eligible to vote. As of Wednesday, the Home Ministry reported that 163 million people nationwide had already registered for e-KTPs. However, the remaining 19 million people have yet to obtain the cards.

Many across the country are complaining about the shortage of blangko — blank cards used to create e-KTPs consisting of seven layers and chips. Some of them also said that many registration machines in the districts are broken.

The country will hold simultaneous regional elections in 101 regions across the country. From these regions, five million eligible voters still do not own e-KTPs, which means that the abstention rate due to administrative problems might rise during elections, Sigit Pamungkas, the General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner, told The Jakarta Post. “Just because of administrative problems, citizens’ rights to vote in elections would be disqualified,” he said.

The KPU met with the government and the House of Representatives on Monday to discuss the issue. It suggested that all citizens be given opportunities to vote by using valid identifications, including e-KTPs, non-electronic IDs and family cards.

The poll body based its argument on Article 95 of Law No. 8/2015 on the revision of the election of regional heads, which stipulates that voters who are not registered in the voters’ lists can exercise their rights to vote at a polling station, in accordance with their residency, by showing valid identifications.

“E-KTPs should be seen as a civil service that the government must provide to its citizens, whereas voting is a civic right. When a problem of civil services is faced with civil rights, the right solution should be made to ensure the rights of citizens are protected,” Sigit said.

Unfortunately, the government and the House rebuffed the KPU’s proposal, saying that, according to the regulations, citizens are only allowed to vote if they have e-KTPs or letters from the department of population and civil registry, explaining that they had taken the initiative to apply for e-KTPs.

Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, the director general of the ministry’s population and civil registration division, admitted that technical glitches were still happening. For instance, 800 e-KTP registration devices throughout the country were still broken. However, he said it was not a big problem since residents could still record their data in other districts close by.

He added that the Home Ministry kept urging the public to apply for e-KTPs for their benefits.

“In order for people to obtain their rights, they need to fulfill some requirements. In the election, e-KTPs are important, so we know their personal identification. Also, [it is] to prevent double identification cards,” he said.

Furthermore, he reminded that the rule of having an e-KTP is stipulated in the Presidential Decree No. 112/ 2013, stating that non-electronic identity cards obtained after Dec. 31, 2014 are not valid.

“We have to push citizens to comply with the law. The government is already active, so citizens should show they are also willing to do it,” he said.

At present, he claimed that public enthusiasm in applying for e-KTPs had risen. On Monday and Sunday, the number of people recorded with e-KTPs had increased sevenfold in Bantul, Yogyakarta and fourfold in West Java. (win)