Register before July, voters told<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has asked disgruntled voters who were unable to do
\ntheir civic duty on Monday to register on time for the
\npresidential election in July.<\/p>\n
\"They (the unregistered) should register themselves for the
\npresidential election,\" interim Coordinating Minister for
\nPolitical and Security Affairs Hari Sabarno said after inspecting
\na polling station in Serang, Banten, on Monday.<\/p>\n
The General Elections Commission (KPU) had given until April 4
\nfor all people who were not registered in Monday's vote to get
\nregistered.<\/p>\n
He also said those who failed to vote on Monday have to
\nregister with the subdistrict office by next Monday, April 12 for
\nthe direct presidential election on July 5.<\/p>\n
Hari called on voters to take the initiative by registering
\nthemselves, otherwise they would squander another chance.<\/p>\n
The minister was joined by the General Elections Commission
\n(KPU) chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, Indonesian Military chief
\nGen. Endriartono Sutarto, National Police chief Gen. Da'i
\nBachtiar and Banten Governor Djoko Munandar during the
\ninspection.<\/p>\n
The unregistered voters were very upset, but Hari insisted
\nthat it was only a small percentage of the nation's eligible
\nvoters.<\/p>\n
The KPU has estimated that just 0.5 percent of over 145
\nmillion eligible voters were not registered, due mostly to
\nmistakes blamed on the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).<\/p>\n
The chancellor of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Sofian Effendi
\nconcurred with Hari, saying the election turnout on Monday would
\nlikely be extremely high, when all the numbers came in.<\/p>\n
\"In the polling stations I visited, it averaged about a 90
\npercent turnout,\" he said after observing polling stations in
\nBantul and Kulonprogo regencies, both in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Despite the KPU's statistics, the actual number of
\nunregistered voters could be much higher as reports of those
\nwithout voter cards continue to come in. The Election Supervisory
\nCommittee estimated in North Sumatra alone that about 1.5 million
\nof the 7.2 million potential voters were unregistered. Earlier
\nreports said that some 90 percent of the 2.5 million migrant
\nworkers overseas were unregistered.<\/p>\n
In Central Sulawesi, over 200,000 voters, or about 14 percent
\nof all potential voters in the province, were denied their
\npolitical right because they were unregistered, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
Central Sulawesi Governor Aminuddin Ponulele said such a
\nsituation was inexcusable and the KPU should be blamed.<\/p>\n
\"It is regrettable that tens of thousands of citizens could
\nnot cast ballots today,\" he told the press in Palu.<\/p>\n
He said he had asked KPU staff members to take this situation
\nseriously and settle the problem before the presidential
\nelection.<\/p>\n
While many eligible voters were unregistered, underaged
\nchildren were reportedly registered as voters in certain areas.<\/p>\n
Chris Wilson and Ganjar, two children in Siwalankerto and
\nKupang Timur subdistricts in Surabaya, were registered as voters
\ndespite the fact that they are under 17 -- the minimum age to
\nvote -- and single.<\/p>\n
Anyone who is already married is eligible, regardless of age.<\/p>\n
Political analyst Bachtiar Effendy asserted that KPU had to
\nimprove. People will not tolerate the same mistakes in the
\npresidential election, which is considered by some to be more
\nimportant than the legislative election, he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/register-before-july-voters-told-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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