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Ballots confusing, say elderly voters
Vulnerable groups such as the disabled, the elderly and illiterate people might need more time to cast their vote so that they would be familiar with the voting process.
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Volunteers from the Bogor election committee in West Java show ballots to a resident at a traditional market on Sunday. Voters will cast five different votes on April 19, when the country heads to the polls for the simultaneous legislative and presidential elections.
(Antara/Arif Firmansyah )
K
erti spent about 15 minutes casting her vote, starting from marking the ballots to dipping her finger in ink. The 72-year-old woman was among 500 women participating in a voting simulation event at Bulungan Sport Center, South Jakarta on Saturday.
The event was organized by the Indonesian Women’s’ Coalition (KPI) in collaboration with Migrant CARE and women’s rights advocacy group Institut KAPAL Perempuan.
The resident of Kramat Jati, East Jakarta said this year’s voting experience was very different from previous ones because the 12th general election would be the first simultaneous legislative and presidential elections.
From 2004 to 2014, presidential elections were held three months after legislative elections. This year, voters will have at least five separate ballots to fill out in the voting booth: one for the presidential and vice presidential election, one for the House of Representatives (DPR), one for the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), one for the provincial-level Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) and one for the regency or municipal-level council.
Jakarta residents will only vote for the provincial-level council because the capital city does not have a regency or municipal-level council.
“I can read the text even though I only went to school up to Grade 4, but it’s very complicated to select and mark my preference with many ballots consisting of many columns. I found all the names and logos jumbled together in the ballots for the DPR and DPRD,“ Kerti told The Jakarta Post.
However, Kerti said, she learned through the simulation how to prepare herself better before voting day on April 17.
