RI will not use electronic voting machines: KPU<\/p>\n
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post\/ Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia -- the third largest democratic nation in the world --
\nwill not use electronic voting machines in the near future, as
\nthe machines are costly and not suited to the situation here, the
\nGeneral Elections Commission (KPU) chief said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"Each voting machine costs around US$3,000. We have around
\n600,000 polling stations ... We have neither the funds nor the
\nresources to use electronic voting machines in our elections.
\nThey are not suitable for our country as the situation is
\ndifferent, and people still trust the manual election process,\"
\ncommission chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said in Washington,
\nduring a live video conference held at the U.S. Embassy in
\nJakarta.<\/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. Earlier, India and Brazil used
\nelectronic voting machines in their elections.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta organized the conference on
\nWednesday, in which around 70 Indonesian journalists, officials
\nand academics took part.<\/p>\n
While responding to a question on the major differences
\nbetween the U.S. and Indonesian election systems, Nazaruddin said
\nthe Indonesian election system was centralized, while the system
\nin the U.S. was more decentralized.<\/p>\n
\"The U.S. election system can't be implemented in Indonesia.
\nWe have neither the technology nor the human resources to follow
\nthe American model, which is well-organized. Election authorities
\nin the U.S. have enormous funds to conduct elections, whereas, we
\nin Indonesia do not have funds of that size\".<\/p>\n
In response to a question from The Jakarta Post on possible
\ncooperation between the U.S. election team and the Indonesian
\nelections commission, Nazaruddin hinted that there would be some
\nkind of cooperation in the future.<\/p>\n
\"Not now. We came here just to observe how the U.S. election
\nwas held, and compare it with Indonesia's. The U.S. election
\nofficials are very busy. But, in the future, we would like to
\nhave some kind of cooperation between the two organizations,\"
\nNazaruddin said.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin and his team members admired the way the election
\nwas organized in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\"We noted there were two major aspects of the election that
\ncontributed to its success. The management skills of the U.S.
\nelections team -- which introduced an early voting process to
\navoid trouble -- and the application of modern technology,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Even the way they recruited election officials, who are
\nhighly qualified for their jobs, is worth considering. We learned
\na lot from the U.S. election to improve the quality of our own
\nelections in the future, Valina Singka, a member of Nazaruddin's
\nteam, said.<\/p>\n
Unlike in several other Asian countries, where U.S. embassies
\nhad organized \"red-white-and-blue\" parties to observe the U.S.
\nelection, the embassy in Jakarta organized only the \"U.S.
\nElection Watch - 2004\" program.<\/p>\n
\"Keeping in mind that it is the holy month of Ramadhan, we
\ndidn't organize any other program,\" M. Max Kwak, the embassy's
\nnew press attache told the Post on the sidelines of the video
\nconference.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-will-not-use-electronic-voting-machines-kpu-1447893297",
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