This early voting mechanism was carried out in accordance with General Elections Commission (KPU) Decree No. 1811/2023 on Determination of the Day and Date for 2024 Voting at Overseas Polling Stations (TPSLN), which went into effect on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.

Overseas voting began on Feb. 5, 2024, with the first votes cast in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Voting then followed on Feb. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 at TPSLN in various countries, with the final overseas voting to take place on Feb. 14 in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea.

Nevertheless, overseas votes will still be counted at the same time as the recapitulation and vote counting of domestic votes on Feb. 14, 2024.

KPU chair Hasyim Asy'ari has called on the public not to believe the misinformation being spread that that the recapitulation and vote counting of overseas votes would follow immediately after overseas voters cast their ballots.

"We can assure you it is not true that the results of LN [overseas] voting will published before February 14, 2024," Hasyim said in a recent statement.

The public is also asked to be prepared to vote for their preferred candidates in the voting booth on Wednesday, Feb. 14, and to avoid being provoked by any misinformation from irresponsible parties that only want to stir up trouble.

Other information that circulated earlier, especially on social media, claimed to be the interim results of overseas votes of the 2024 presidential election in six countries: Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Taipei.

"These [overseas voting] results are incorrect," underlined Hasyim.

General Elections Commission Regulation (PKPU) No. 25/2023 on Voting and Vote Counting in General Elections stipulates three voting methods.

The first is voting at a Polling Station (TPS) or Overseas Polling Station (TPSLN) at an Indonesian representative office, such as embassies and consulates general, or at Indonesian schools and residences.

The second is through mobile ballot boxes prepared by the KPU, and the third is by postal vote. Officials from the Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) then send letters by post to the address of each registered overseas voter.

After the overseas polls opened on Feb. 5 for Indonesian citizens in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, overseas voting was held on Feb. 6, 2024 in Panama City, followed two days later by the polls in Tehran on Feb. 8, 2024.

A total of 255 registered overseas voters were based in Hanoi and surrounding areas, according to national radio broadcaster the Voice of Vietnam (vovworld.vn), and 478 overseas voters in Ho Chi Minh City. The PPLN used two methods: voting directly at overseas polling stations and postal voting.

"The morning started at 8 a.m. Poland time, but some people had already arrived before then. Indonesian citizens in Poland were enthusiastic about casting their votes even though they were not in Indonesia," said PPLN Warsaw chairman Ramon Tommy Sirait.

Meanwhile, voting was held on Feb. 9, 2024 in the overseas constituencies of Amman, Seychelles Islands, Baghdad, Dhaka, Doha, Khartoum, Kuwait City, Manama, Muscat, Riyadh and Sana'a.

The following day on Saturday, Feb. 10, overseas voting took place in Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Algiers, Berlin, Bern, Bogota, Brasilia-DF, Bratislava, Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Canberra, Cape Town, Caracas, Chicago, Colombo, Dakar, Damascus, Darwin, The Hague, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Havana, Helsinki, Houston, Islamabad, Jeddah, Cairo, Copenhagen, Kiev, Lima, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Maputo, Marseille, Melbourne, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Nairobi, New Delhi, New York, Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Perth, Phnom Penh, Prague, Pretoria, Quito, San Francisco, Sarajevo, Seoul, Sofia, Stockholm, Suva, Sydney, Tashkent, Toronto, Tripoli, Vancouver, Vatican City, Vientiane, Warsaw, Washington DC, Wellington, Vienna, Windhoek and Zagreb.

In an official statement provided by the Indonesian Embassy in Warsaw, PPLN Warsaw reported that several Indonesian citizens living in various Polish cities had traveled long distances over several hours to cast their votes in the 2024 election.

"Many Indonesian citizens from various cities in Poland visited the Indonesian Embassy in Warsaw. Many also took hours to make the journey. Voting started in the morning, but priority was given to Permanent Overseas Voters (PTLN). Meanwhile, Indonesian citizens who found it difficult to come to the TPS were facilitated by the postal method," wrote the embassy said in its statement.

On Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, voting was held in Addis Ababa, Ankara, Athens, Baku, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok, Beirut, Belgrade, Bucharest, Dar Es Salaam, Davao City, Dili, Harare, Istanbul, Johor Bahru, Karachi, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, London, Madrid, Manila, Noumea, Osaka, Paramaribo, Penang, Port Moresby, Rabat, Rome, Santiago, Singapore, Songkhla, Tawau, Tokyo, Tunis and Yangon.

Voting then resume on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Hong Kong, and the final overseas voting sessions were held on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Madagascar, Astana, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Taipei and Vanimo.

Let's prepare to determine the future of our nation. Strengthen unity, make the election a means of integration #PeacefulElection2024.

Let's head to the polls together. Happy voting!

This article was published in collaboration with Ministry of Communications and Informatics

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