Balinese voters get tangled in election mix-up<\/p>\n
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
For Anak Agung Ngurah Bagus Mulawarman, election day on Monday,
\nwhich was eagerly awaited by many, was nothing but a bitter
\ndisappointment.<\/p>\n
His name was not listed among those of registered voters and,
\nconsequently, he could not exercise his right to vote in the
\ncountry's first direct general election.<\/p>\n
\"What a joke. Since my name was not on the list, does that
\nalso mean that I don't exist,\" said Mulawarman, who is an
\ninfluential figure in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n
To add insult to injury, as Mulawarman is a member of eastern
\nDenpasar's noble house of Puri Kesiman, his attendance at the
\npolling station was required to ensure that everything went
\naccording to schedule.<\/p>\n
On election day, dressed in a fine traditional costume and
\nsmoking an expensive hand-rolled clove cigarette, Mulawarman
\nwatched attentively as streams of voters entered the meeting hall
\nof the banjar (traditional neighborhood organization) Dajan
\nTangluk, where two polling booths were set up.<\/p>\n
\"Quite ironic isn't it? Here I am securing the very event that
\nI was denied the chance to participate in, along with six of my
\nfamily members,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Others reported similar experiences to Mulawarman. Some six
\nkilometers to the east, in a housing complex in Biaung area,
\nMelina Carusso gritted her teeth over a similar mix-up.<\/p>\n
\"I relinquished my Australian citizenship to be an Indonesian
\nnational and now I cannot even participate in the elections. It's
\nnot a matter of whether I am going to exercise my rights or not,
\nI just don't like the fact that somebody else has made that
\ndecision for me; by not recording my name on the list of voters,\"
\nshe complained.<\/p>\n
Accurate data on the number of people who lost their right to
\nvote due to the registration problem has not been made available.<\/p>\n
Given the fact that the General Elections Committee (KPU) and
\nthe Central Statistics Agency (BPS) seem to be busily playing
\ndown the magnitude of the problem, or blaming each other for it,
\nthe chance of public access to that data in the near future is
\nremote.<\/p>\n
However, numerous reports by local media prior to and after
\nelection day indicated that the day was marred by various
\ntechnical problems. These included those related to registration,
\nwhich almost every regency on the island experienced.<\/p>\n
In some regencies, these so-called slip-ups were too serious
\nto ignore.<\/p>\n
For instance, at least four under-age children, including a
\nkindergarten student, in Karangasem regency had been registered
\nas voters and issued with voter registration cards. Similar
\nmistakes were made in Bangli regency.<\/p>\n
In Klungkung regency, the KPU registered Men Ceple as a voter,
\ndespite that fact that she died almost ten years ago.<\/p>\n
\"It is simply disappointing and perplexing that the KPU failed
\nto provide all citizens with equal rights and the opportunity to
\nvote in the elections. After all, it used such a huge amount of
\ntaxpayers' money. It makes me sick,\" noted photographer Rio Helmi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
For the record, Rio was also a victim of the registration
\njumble.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/balinese-voters-get-tangled-in-election-mix-up-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}