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Voters living away from home ‘devastated’ over inability to vote
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A woman votes at a polling station during the 2024 general election in South Tangerang, Banten on Feb. 14, 2024. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
Many voters who do not live in the locations as stated on their identity cards have expressed frustration at not being allowed to vote at polling stations during the election.
More than 200 million voters were registered as final voters for the country’s simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on Wednesday.
However, the General Elections Commission (KPU) did allow voters residing in different locations from where they are registered to vote. The applicants were required to submit a copy of their identity card and proof of valid reason for changing their place of voting, such as a letter of employment, to the local polling committees or KPU offices where they intended to vote.
The rule differs from the 2019 elections, where voters could directly go to the nearest polling station and show their ID cards to be able to vote.
Read also: Lack of clarity prevents voters changing address
University student Lily, 20, who hails from Batam, Riau Islands, said she felt “devastated” after being rejected by various polling stations in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta, where she currently lives.
“I learned about the rule quite late. When the deadline to change our voting address came, I was busy with final exams and an internship, so there was not time for me to do the whole process,” she told The Jakarta Post at a polling station in Kemanggisan on Wednesday.
Similar problems were also experienced by 24-year-old Stasya Yovela in Medan, North Sumatra, who did not hear about the new rule until voting day on Wednesday. She is still registered in West Jakarta.
The registration for new voting addresses was closed on Jan. 15. The KPU received additional registrations until Feb. 7, but only for voters who were hospitalized in different regions or hit by disasters, among other exceptions.
