Barack Obama lived in Indonesia during his childhood days
arack Obama lived in Indonesia during his childhood days. That is perhaps what people might answer when asked about Indonesia's role in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. But this year, Indonesia has a direct link to the selection of the U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate.
The party will open polling stations for benefit of U.S. democrats living in Indonesia who want to participate in the "Super Tuesday" primary-level polling, Feb. 5 in Jakarta.
"In 2008, we intend to make sure that Democrats in Indonesia have a clear say on who our candidate will be," Arian Ardie, Chair of the Democrats Abroad Indonesia, informed The Jakarta Post through e-mail recently.
"Here in Indonesia, we will have a special impact in that we vote and announce our results 12 hours ahead of the first polls opening in the U.S. This will take on great importance as the media is looking for indicators as to how the 24 other primaries will be decided," Ardie said.
Traditional drop-in voting centers will be open in 34 countries around the globe. American citizens living overseas who want to vote in the Democratic global primary must register and request a ballot from Democrats Abroad at www.democratsabroad.org. Further information on "Super Tuesday abroad" can also be found there.
According to Ardie, there will be two polling stations for the traditional walk-in election. One will be in a downtown hotel and another in a South Jakarta hotel. The one in the downtown hotel will open at 12:01 midnight on Feb. 5.
The results will be announced a couple of hours later. Given the time difference, Democrats living in Indonesia will have their votes computed and released a full 12 hours before polling stations open in any of the 24 states holding primaries that day.
"For those who are unable to make it to the Democratic Party's voting stations in Jakarta, they can still participate in the Democratic "global" primary by casting votes via internet or fax, from Feb. 5-12," Ari Bassin, a Board Member of Democrats Abroad Indonesia, said in a letter to the Post.
Current estimates say 6.5 million U.S. citizens live abroad with as many as 6,000 in Indonesia.
"With such large numbers and distinctive insights into peoples, politics and policies around the globe, American expatriates are poised to become an increasingly important constituency in U.S. politics," Bassin said.
Before the voting starts, candidate surrogates will be calling in to make last-minute pitches to voters. Obama will be relying on his Indonesian sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, to make his case, according to the washingtonpost.com.
When asked about the possibility of fraud, Ardie told the Post that each candidate could have a representative at the voting centers and senior representatives of Indonesian political parties were also invited to act as observers.
"According to our rules, it will in fact be an open ballot which already helps with transparency. People will have to register at www.democratsabroad.org and be asked for their identification. Results are tabulated immediately and sent to our headquarters in Geneva so anyone interested can keep track of the process."
This year's Super Tuesday will see the largest-ever number of U.S. states holding primaries on a single day, with Democrats, Republicans or both parties holding preliminary contests in 24 states.
Meanwhile, the equivalent organization for the Republican party, Republicans Abroad, is not recognized as an official arm of the party and does not send delegates to the party's national convention.
But Republicans can in some cases vote for their presidential candidate of choice at the primary level using absentee ballots from their home state.
Expatriates must use an absentee ballot from their last state of residence in the U.S. to vote in the 2008 presidential elections in November.
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