Voter registration drive to be extended by two weeks<\/p>\n
Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has formally asked the
\nGeneral Elections Commission (KPU) to extend the voter
\nregistration deadline by another two weeks, saying it will be
\nunable to complete the process by Wednesday as scheduled.<\/p>\n
Agus Suherman, the BPS official in charge of the nationwide
\ncensus and voter registration process, blamed the delay in part
\non complacent field workers.<\/p>\n
He told The Jakarta Post that as of Tuesday the program had
\nreached 70.78 percent of designated areas.<\/p>\n
He said his field workers would need until the first week of
\nMay to complete the demographic data on population in 120
\nregencies, while in another 54 regencies the registration would
\nnot finish until the second week of May. Agus did not identify
\nthe regencies.<\/p>\n
Apart from the failure to finish collecting the data, Agus
\nsaid field workers in some 35 regencies in Central Java had not
\nreported their registration status.<\/p>\n
"If we exclude Aceh, we have reached about 80.31 percent
\nregistration coverage, and without Aceh and Papua we have reached
\nabout 83.18 percent," he said.<\/p>\n
Papua and Aceh are two remaining areas that have been given
\nanother month for the field officers to complete the voter
\nregistration process due to the political situation in both
\nprovinces.<\/p>\n
There is a possibility that the landmark direct legislative
\nand presidential elections might not be able to be held in the
\ncountry's easternmost and western provinces of Papua and Aceh due
\nto security difficulties resulting from separatist movements
\nthere. Security problems have also been hampering the
\nregistration process.<\/p>\n
Ramlan Surbakti, the deputy chairman of the KPU, had earlier
\nplayed down the possibility that the delays would affect the
\noverall process of collecting demographic data, which is slated
\nto be competed by December.<\/p>\n
The result of the registration process will determine the
\nnumber of seats in the House of Representatives. The data will
\nalso be used for the purpose of issuing a single personal
\nidentification number to every citizen.<\/p>\n
The nationwide census and the voter registration drive has
\nbeen underway simultaneously since April 1, and will cover an
\nestimated 130 million people.<\/p>\n
The legislative elections will take place on April 5, followed
\nby a two-stage presidential election slated to take place between
\nJune and August.<\/p>\n
Agus said his agency would be unable to meet the April 30
\ndeadline due to a lack of motivation and training among field
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
The BPS, he said, had discovered that many of its officers had
\nfarmed the work out to untrained officers resulting in a failure
\nto comply with the set procedures and to record the required
\ninformation.<\/p>\n
"We have found in several areas that field officers have been
\ncomplacent in carrying out their work. There have also been cases
\nwhere the officers failed to properly filled out the registration
\nforms," he said.<\/p>\n
Each officer is paid Rp 500 (US 56 cents) for every person
\nregistered. One officer is expected to register between 1,200 and
\n1,500 people, earning him between Rp 600,000 and Rp 750,000.<\/p>\n
"We never imagined it, but registering people in rich
\nneighborhoods in metropolitan areas is the toughest challenge as
\nthe field officers often have to get past guard dogs and security
\nguards," said Agus.<\/p>",
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