TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Ballot rumor puts KPU at stake
The race is on: General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Arief Budiman (center) poses with representatives from the two presidential candidates’ campaign teams during the ballot validation process at the KPU office in Jakarta on Friday
Change Size
T
he race is on: General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Arief Budiman (center) poses with representatives from the two presidential candidates’ campaign teams during the ballot validation process at the KPU office in Jakarta on Friday.(JP/Seto Wardhana)
As the General Elections Commission (KPU) enters a critical time in which it distributes material for the April general election, it has become the target of a false news campaign saying that ballots had been damaged.
In the latest turn of the social media tug of war between presidential candidate supporters, Democratic Party executive Andi Arief tweeted unverified news that millions of ballots had arrived at Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta.
Andi, whose party officially supports the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno ticket, said the ballots had also been cast in favor of incumbent ticket Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin.
He later deleted the tweet but it triggered uproar on the internet, causing the election organizer to investigate the information on Wednesday evening. It was later found that it was a case of misinformation as no containers containing ballots were found at the port.
The KPU later reported the case to the police, which took swift action and arrested two people identified as HY and LS for allegedly spreading the false news.
“Anyone playing a role behind this false information will be processed under the law,” National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Mohammad Iqbal said on Friday.
He said spreading false news was a violation of Article 14 of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law that carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
There are 192.8 million people on the electoral roll for the 2019 legislative and presidential elections, which will be held concurrently on April 17.
The 192.8 million consists of 190.8 million voters in the country and 2 million overseas voters, an increase of about 2 million from the final voter list of the 2014 general election.
The election campaign season that began in September has seen the candidates and their supporting parties trading jabs and launching smear campaigns on social media.
A notable episode was when actress and political activist Ratna Sarumpaet — then a member of the Prabowo campaign — was arrested after she publicly lied about being attacked by strangers.
Before he was aware that her story was fabricated, Prabowo publicly defended her and condemned the assault. But after the truth was revealed, he apologized for supporting Ratna and dismissed her from his
campaign team.
KPU commissioner Viryan Aziz said any false information related to the KPU’s work ahead of the legislative and presidential elections would potentially mar the legitimacy of the commission as well as the election.
He added the KPU would keep working to prove its accountability. “We work transparently and accountably, so we will make as few mistakes as possible. Therefore, false information won’t be paid attention to.”
This month is a crucial time for the KPU as the election organizer has started to distribute materials to every corner of the country. “As of today [Friday], materials including voting booths, ballot boxes, ink and seals have been distributed to regencies and cities across the country,” Viryan said.
The KPU has not started printing ballots yet, as the commission has just finished finalizing the design of each ballot on Friday. Printing is expected to start by Jan. 16 and will be supervised by the KPU.
The commission has prepared several measures to ensure the security and authenticity of the ballots. “Apart from supervision from our personnel, we also use special ink when printing the ballots,” Viryan said.
Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the communications director of the Prabowo campaign, denied any links to the spread of the ballot rumor.
“The false news did not come from Gerindra nor the [Prabowo-Sandiaga team],” said Prabowo’s brother who is also a Gerindra Party member.
Association for Elections and Democracy executive director Titi Anggraini called on all election participants, particularly campaign team members and the presidential candidates, not to spread information that had yet to be verified, as it could create public distrust toward election organizers.
“Also for the people, we should be more careful in filtering information and not easily trust any single issue. Otherwise, we can contribute to ruining the elections,” Titi said.
