Provinces play catch-up in tabulating ballots<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A handful more provinces completed on Monday the
\ntabulation of votes from the June 7 elections, several days past
\nthe June 17 deadline set for final tallies to be submitted.<\/p>\n
The West Java electoral committee wrapped up the count and
\napproved the results at 1 a.m. on Monday, a few hours after South
\nKalimantan, Aceh and West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Timor and Bali are the other
\nprovinces to have completed their vote count.<\/p>\n
It took the West Java election committee two days to finish
\ncounting 23,797,277 ballots cast in 28 regencies and mayoralties.
\nThe committee found 756,235 invalid ballots.<\/p>\n
Its final standings put the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) on the top with 7,583,503 votes for the
\nHouse of Representatives. Second was the Golkar Party (5,439,334)
\nfollowed by United Development Party (PPP\/3,513,348) and National
\nMandate Party (PAN\/1,707,252).<\/p>\n
Of the 82 House seats on offer in the country's most populous
\nprovince, 72 went to seven major parties. The remaining 10 seats
\nwill be distributed among parties which have agreed to pool their
\nvotes.<\/p>\n
Secretary of the West Java electoral committee Istomo Gatot
\nsaid the results were legitimate because they were approved by
\ntwo thirds of 48 parties registered in the province. The ballots
\nwere delivered to Jakarta shortly after the final tally was
\nannounced.<\/p>\n
Antara reported from Aceh that the local election committee
\nconcluded its vote tabulation on Sunday evening, despite
\ndisruption of the polls in the three troubled regencies of Pidie,
\nNorth Aceh and East Aceh and in Teunom subdistrict in West Aceh.
\nRepolling in the areas is tentative despite approval from the
\nNational Election Committee (PPI), the committee said.<\/p>\n
The provincial election committee also excluded ballots cast
\nin eight subdistricts in East Aceh, West Aceh and Southeast Aceh
\nregencies due to technical matters.<\/p>\n
At the end of the 48-hour-long vote count, PPP gained 254,148
\nvotes for the House of 885,420 ballots cast. PAN collected
\n162,930, followed by Golkar with 135,117.<\/p>\n
Nearly 1.5 million people were registered to vote in the
\nprovince, home to increased antigovernment activity in the past
\nfew months.<\/p>\n
In West Sumatra, protests marred the announcement of the final
\ntally, in which Golkar narrowly beat PAN and PPP.<\/p>\n
Golkar collected 459,577 votes for the House, turning the
\ntables on preelection favorite PAN which gained 430,848. PPP
\nreceived 400,702 for third. PDI Perjuangan, which reigned supreme
\nin Java, ranked fourth with 231,759 votes.<\/p>\n
Golkar's victory was tarnished by allegations that it
\njustified unscrupulous tactics to gain votes. Suardi Chaniago of
\nPeople's Choice Party (Pilar), Eddy Dasril of the Murba Party and
\nSonny Syahreno of Justice and Unity Party (PKP) demanded that
\nGolkar be disqualified for violations it committed prior to
\nelection day.<\/p>\n
"How can we accept a Golkar victory if its foul play is left
\nunnoticed by the election supervisory committee?" Sonny said.<\/p>\n
Angry Murba executives fired several party cadres were
\nassigned as poll witnesses for signing allegedly dubious results.<\/p>\n
Golkar also finished on top in South Kalimantan, taking
\n357,289 out of 1,486,242 votes cast in the province. PDI
\nPerjuangan was second (316,660 votes) followed by the PPP
\n(251,193).<\/p>\n
The provincial election committee found 67,268 invalid votes.
\nThe final tally was sent to Jakarta on Monday, according to
\ncommittee secretary Bambang Rachmadi.(28\/43\/amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/provinces-play-catch-up-in-tabulating-ballots-1447893297",
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