Registration cut-off set for Saturday<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Saturday is the deadline for unregistered voters to report to
\nlocal election officials, while registered voters are given until
\none day before April 5 to acquire their required cards.<\/p>\n
Mulyana W. Kusumah of the General Elections Commission (KPU),
\nhowever, said that unregistered voters would be able to exercise
\ntheir constitutional right only if it was found that the Central
\nStatistics Agency had failed to register them, or if their
\nresidential documents proved that they should have been
\nregistered as voters.<\/p>\n
A few days ahead of the poll, slated for April 5, the
\ncommission is facing increasing criticism not only for its
\nfailure to deliver all election materials on time, but also
\nbecause scores of people may be denied their right to vote.<\/p>\n
The number of eligible voters reached 147,494,478 as of March
\n14 according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) which
\nconducted a census prior to registration.<\/p>\n
It has been estimated that the number of unregistered voters
\nstands at 0.5 percent. Election supervisors in North Sumatra
\nalone estimate the figure in the province at 1.5 million.<\/p>\n
The commission's deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said that
\nregistered voters who had not acquired their cards had until
\nSunday to present their identity cards to the local working
\ncommittee for polling stations (KPPS). The KPPS would then verify
\ntheir documents with their list of eligible voters.<\/p>\n
The KPPS should have informed all eligible voters to exercise
\ntheir voting rights in their specific polling stations by Friday.<\/p>\n
BPS head Soedarti Surbakti claimed on Friday that her office
\nhad conducted voter registration from April 1 to May 15 2003
\nacross the country, except for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (until
\nlast December) and Papua (until last May).<\/p>\n
\"Those who are still unregistered were not at homes or refused
\nto be registered at that time,\" Soedarti was quoted by Antara as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
Commission chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin has said that
\nadditional ballots were not intended for people who \"refused to
\nbe registered\". The KPU earlier announced that citizens could
\nalso report to local election officials if they had not been
\nregistered.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, about 200 students of the Indonesian Muslim
\nStudents Association (HMI) Ambon chapter and Darussalam
\nUniversity staged a protest in front of KPU local office in
\nAmbon, demanding an explanation for the 20,000 voters still
\nunregistered.<\/p>\n
\"The KPU should responsible for the unregistered voters. If
\nthey cannot solve the problem, the KPU should be dissolved,\" said
\nRofik Akbar Afifudin of HMI.<\/p>\n
In Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, the local KPU office
\nregistered hundreds of new voters after conducting a new voter
\nidentification.<\/p>\n
\"However we did not accept them all since many lacked accurate
\ndata, for instance their registration forms were not signed by
\nthe local authorities,\" KPU Kendari chief Tumbo Saranani said,<\/p>\n
In Kadia subdistrict, Kendari, only 10 voters among 410
\neligible voters were reportedly registered for the election while
\ndozens of eligible voters in many subdistricts remained
\nunregistered.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/registration-cut-off-set-for-saturday-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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