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KPU in hot water over overseas voting confusion
Early ballot distribution and sudden changes to voting rules for overseas voters might cast doubt among voters on the credibility of the election process, observers have said.
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A General Elections Commission (KPU) official shows damaged ballot papers at the ballot sorting center in Kudus, Central Java on Dec. 29, 2023. The election organizer in Kudus found more than 4,000 damaged ballots ahead of the 2024 elections voting day, slated for Feb. 14. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
Concerns are growing around the General Elections Commission’s (KPU) capacity to hold fair and transparent elections for Indonesian voters residing overseas, following an early disbursement of ballot papers in Taiwan and sudden changes to polling methods less than two months before the Feb. 14 polling day.
A video recently circulating on social media showed an Indonesian living in Taipei already receiving mail containing official ballot papers for the 2024 presidential and legislative elections.
The user had already received the ballots despite the KPU’s official schedule mandating all Overseas Election Committees (PPLNs) to distribute ballots to the Indonesian diaspora by mail between Jan. 2 and 11. Voters are required to send their ballots back to their local committee before the counting days that start on Feb. 15.
“We suspect there’s an administration violation by the Taipei PPLN [for disbursing the ballots earlier than scheduled],” said Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) official Puadi on Dec. 28, as quoted by Antara.
After checking with the Taipei PPLN, the KPU found that the committee had sent around 62,500 ballot papers for the presidential and legislative elections by mail to 31,000 voters in Taiwan on Dec. 18 and 25.
KPU chairman Hasyim Asy’ari said the Taipei election committee intentionally disbursed the ballots earlier than scheduled anticipating the closure of the Taiwanese post office between Feb. 8 and 14 due to the Chinese New Year; meaning voters would have a smaller window to send their ballots back compared with diasporas in other countries.
“The majority of Indonesian voters in Taiwan are also migrant workers with various and strict working hours. Some get one day off per week, others once in two weeks and the rest once a month,” Hasyim said in a recent live-streamed press briefing.
