Double puncture spoils a good poll: Panwaslu<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) hailed on Tuesday
\nthe country's first direct presidential election as peaceful and
\ndemocratic, but warned that the use of nonpermanent ink and
\ndouble perforation of ballot papers could reduce the quality of
\nthe poll.<\/p>\n
\"We should be grateful that the election was generally free of
\nviolence despite tensions in many poll stations over the use of
\nnonpermanent ink and the immediate validation of double
\nperforations on ballot papers,\" committee member Didik Supriyanto
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He was speaking at a media conference attended by Panwaslu
\nchairman Komaruddin Hidayat, deputy Rozy Munir and member Topo
\nSantoso Masyhudi.<\/p>\n
Didik said the committee found that nonpermanent ink had been
\nused across the country, which sparked fears that people may vote
\nmore than once.<\/p>\n
A number of voters were caught red-handed by Panwaslu
\nofficials in the Central Java town of Brebes, Yogyakarta,
\nTotitoli in Central Sulawesi and Jayapura in Papua for attempting
\nto vote twice on Monday.<\/p>\n
Many more voters in other regions may have done the same thing
\nto help their favored candidate, Rozy Munir said.<\/p>\n
Panwaslu demanded that the General Elections Commission (KPU)
\napologize publicly for its failing to ensure indelible ink was
\nused in Monday's election.<\/p>\n
Rozy said the fact that the KPU changed its rules at the
\neleventh hour to declare the ballots with double perforations
\nvalid also caused problems in many polling stations.<\/p>\n
\"The commission's announcement came too late, particularly for
\nthe eastern part of Indonesia. They (poll committees there)
\nrefused to recount the double-perforated votes as they had
\nfinished counting earlier,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The announcement was released at around 11 a.m. from Jakarta
\nat West Indonesia Time. West Indonesia Time (WIB) is two hours
\nlater than Eastern Indonesia Time (WIT) and one hour later than
\nCentral Indonesia Time (WITA).<\/p>\n
The problem stemmed from voters who failed to unfold the
\nballot sheet and, instead, made a hole that went through the
\nfolded sheet to the other side. The KPU then decided to declare
\nthe ballots valid as long as the second perforation was in a
\nblank part of the sheet.<\/p>\n
Rozy said Panwaslu had to approve the KPU's decision to change
\nthe rules in an effort to prevent possible disruptions in the
\nvote count.<\/p>\n
\"If the KPU did not change the rules, more than 40 percent of
\nthe votes cast could be declared invalid. This would thus
\nthreaten the validity of the election,\" he argued.<\/p>\n
The supervisory committee asked its members, regional poll
\nofficers and observers to spare more time to monitor the vote
\nrecount to avoid possible violations.<\/p>\n
\"All parties involved still have to work hard to ensure the
\nrecount proceeds smoothly,\" Rozy said.<\/p>\n
BOX:<\/p>\n
Alleged vote rigging at Al-Zaytun probed<\/p>\n
The West Java Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) reported
\non Tuesday alleged irregularities in the number of voters who
\ncast their ballots at Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school during
\nthe presidential election.<\/p>\n
The sharp increase in the number of voters at Al-Zaytun's
\npolling stations favored Golkar Party candidates Gen. (ret)
\nWiranto and Solahuddin Wahid.<\/p>\n
Committee head Egypt Sudrajat said his staffers found the
\nnumber of voters at the school located in Indramayu, West Java,
\nincreased by up to five times the number of students and
\nresidents living nearby.<\/p>\n
\"During the legislative election, there were only 11,565
\nregistered voters. But now, the number swelled to 24,818,\" he
\ntold a press conference in Bandung.<\/p>\n
Adjat said his committee members saw people arriving at the
\nboarding school in groups on Monday, on board more than 300
\nprivate cars, trucks and buses.<\/p>\n
As many as 24,794 of the voters supported Wiranto and
\nSolahuddin, six supported Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hasyim
\nMuzadi, 21 voted for Amien Rais and Siswono Yudohusodo, 16 voted
\nfor Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and two voted for Hamzah
\nHaz and Gen. (ret) Agum Gumelar.<\/p>\n
Separately in Jakarta, the national Election Supervisory
\nCommittee said its members and witnesses were not allowed entry
\nto the school to monitor the election at Al-Zaytun.<\/p>\n
During the news conference, the central Panwaslu switched on a
\nvideo showing vehicles transporting people arriving at the
\nschool. Some of the vehicles were painted dark green, and bore
\nthe letters Mabes TNI, or Indonesia Military headquarters.<\/p>\n
The committee said it was investigating the \"exceptional case\"
\nto find whether the voters were officially registered or they had
\ncast their votes twice. --JP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/double-puncture-spoils-a-good-poll-panwaslu-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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