A matter of printing<\/p>\n
Election day is just 33 days away and even as basic an issue
\nas whether polling stations will have their ballot papers on time
\nis far from certain.<\/p>\n
The General Elections Commission (KPU) cannot hide its
\nanxiety, with some valiantly airing confidence while deputy
\nRamlan Surbakti acknowledges that he and his colleagues \"cannot
\nsleep well\" amid the current preparations -- or the lack of them.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the legislative election slated for April 5 the KPU
\nhas received only a fraction of the films which it must recheck
\nand validate before they go to print. As of Tuesday it was
\nreported that the state-run printing firm PNRI had only delivered
\n77 films from its share of 2,090 films. The management meanwhile
\nsaid, as quoted by Kompas on Tuesday, that their work was still
\nheld up by constant changes in the names of legislative
\ncandidates.<\/p>\n
Under pressure from a worried public and also provincial
\noffices of the KPU, the KPU finally released its contingency plan
\n-- although this does not sound entirely convincing either, given
\nthe need for 660 million ballot papers to reach polling stations
\nin over 400 regions and municipalities on time.<\/p>\n
As Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said, the government
\ncould still overcome the problem of other logistics such as
\nballot booths if necessary -- but of course the provision of
\nballot papers depends entirely on the KPU.<\/p>\n
The contingency plan, or what we know of it, now incorporates
\nthe possibility of a number of remote polling stations receiving
\ntheir papers on March 30, instead of March 25, according to the
\nlast revised schedule (which slated printing to be completed at
\nthe end of February).<\/p>\n
With this latest schedule the KPU has not felt it necessary,
\nit seems, to consider requests to prepare for the possibility of
\nholding elections at a later date in areas where ballot papers
\nmay arrive late. Indeed the KPU might be afraid of violating the
\nelections law which holds no provision for such a possibility.
\nBut in past elections in areas of Papua province, for instance,
\nit took eight days for ballot papers to arrive, which opens the
\npossibility of late arrivals -- meaning the probable violation of
\nthe constitutional right of citizens to vote.<\/p>\n
KPU itself earlier ruled that ballot papers should be received
\nat local polling stations 10 days ahead of voting day, and 30
\ndays ahead of voting day at polling stations outside the country.<\/p>\n
As solutions like on-line voting may only be feasible in the
\nrather distant future everything possible must be done to
\novercome what has long been predicted as a logistics nightmare.<\/p>\n
The KPU has correctly included the Newspapers Publishers Union
\nin the 18-member consortium to print the ballot papers in a
\nnumber of electoral districts. But given the complaints already
\nraised by some other members regarding the various sizes of
\nballot papers, including broadsheets which are not the
\noffice-size standard, we cannot help thinking that maybe many
\nmore newspaper publishers should have been involved. They have
\naccess, not only to resources to print various sizes of paper,
\nbut also to the distribution network which is now crucial to the
\nsuccess of the elections. With this in mind the prospective late
\nschedule should not have been an issue.<\/p>\n
But as things stand, as it was mentioned earlier, a clear
\nsolution for the worst-case scenario is still needed. As nerve
\nracking as the situation is, mere assurances from KPU members
\nthat things are \"under control\" cannot stop us from feeling that
\nworse possibilities are being glossed over. As dates have been
\nthe only possible revision cited so far, one gets the impression
\nthat nothing is quite certain. The 18-member consortium is doing
\nthe best that it can -- with one member saying printing could be
\ncompleted in three days, while another says 10.<\/p>\n
Without a clear plan made known to the public, and even local
\noffices of the KPU across the country and abroad, the duty to
\nensure citizens' constitutional rights in this crucial event
\nwould rest on a good measure of wishful thinking.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-matter-of-printing-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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