Indonesians note lessons from U.S. election<\/p>\n
Veeramalla Anjaiah and M.Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
As the world watched with either joy or dismay as the votes
\nwere tallied following the U.S. elections -- depending on the
\nrespective audience's preferences -- Indonesians are also looking
\nfor lessons to be learned following a lengthy election year.<\/p>\n
It ended in September with the country's first direct
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
While officials of the General Election Commission (KPU),
\nwhich had prepared and organized the election, admired the
\ndecentralized balloting process in the United States, an expert
\non elections here raised the issue of credibility.<\/p>\n
Speaking from Washington, KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin
\nsaid that the decentralized system of the U.S. elections would
\nneed more resources including funds.<\/p>\n
\"We have neither the technology nor the human resources to
\nfollow the American model, which is well-organized,\" he said
\nduring a live video conference held at the U.S. Embassy here.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin is leading a small delegation to Washington to
\nobserve the 2004 U.S. election, in which electronic voting
\nmachines were used on Tuesday. For Indonesia, the machines are
\ncostly and not suited to the situation here, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Each voting machine costs around US$3,000. We have around
\n600,000 polling stations ... and people still trust the manual
\nelection process.\"<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin noted two major aspects that contributed to the
\nelection's \"success\": \"The management skills of the elections
\nteam -- which introduced an early voting process to avoid trouble
\n-- and the application of modern technology.\"<\/p>\n
KPU team member Valina Singka Subekti added, \"Even the way
\nthey recruited (highly qualified) election officials ... is worth
\nconsidering. We learned a lot from the U.S. election to improve
\nthe quality of our own elections in the future.\"<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, however, Smita Notosusanto of the Center for
\nElectoral Reform (Cetro) said Wednesday that such
\ndecentralization risked the credibility of the election result.<\/p>\n
\"The absence of standardized balloting procedures nationwide
\nhas resulted in numerous cases of disenfranchised voters,\" Smita
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
She cited different mechanisms in selecting presidential
\ncandidates and voter registration, which at times discriminated
\nagainst minorities.<\/p>\n
\"A valid vote in one state could be declared invalid in other
\nstates,\" the lecturer at the University of Indonesia said.<\/p>\n
She also said that although the electoral system had matured,
\nit was still prone to collusion at the level of the states,
\nbetween the election commission, administration and candidates'
\ncampaign teams to give victory to a certain candidate.<\/p>\n
\"Collusion took place in the Florida debacle in 2000,\" she
\nclaimed, referring to the close race between Democratic candidate
\nAl Gore and Republican candidate George W. Bush. The Supreme
\nCourt gave the victory to Bush.<\/p>\n
She also offered her opinion on the U.S. electoral college
\nsystem, saying it hampered the full exercise of the electorate's
\npolitical right. Votes for the losing candidate are lost to the
\nvictor in the \"winner-takes-all\" system in the states.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, unlike most Asian countries, where U.S. embassies
\nhad organized \"red-white-and-blue\" parties to observe the
\nelection, the embassy here organized only the \"U.S. Election
\nWatch - 2004\" program, in respect of the Muslim fasting month.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesians-note-lessons-from-us-election-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}