Blind Papuans ignored of their voting rights

Blind Papuans ignored of their voting rights

Nethy Dharma Somba
The Jakarta Post/Jayapura

As many Jayapura residents headed to polling stations to cast
their votes in the city's mayoral election on Tuesday, it was
business as usual at the Humania Foundation boarding house for
the blind in Polimak.

Some 50 blind people living in the house with their families
went about their daily routines, drinking coffee on the terrace
or cleaning up.

"We've not been invited," 30-year-old Nataniel Numunes said
when asked why he did not go to a voting booth.

Blind people in the city have been denied their right to vote
for the past three national elections, their names left off
voting registration lists after neither their carers nor the
government bothered to register them.

"As citizens we have the right to vote but we've never been
invited," said Nataniel, who was born blind and has been living
in the house for five years.

When living in Biak, he could vote as his relatives had guided
him through the voting process. "We could vote that way," he
said.

Yosef Rumsarom, who has managed the house for seven years now,
blamed the administration for not visiting the center and
registering blind voters. "Although they are small in numbers
they want to be appreciated like other normal people," he said.

Another resident in the house, Esther, said not being able to
vote mean she felt excluded. "It seems like we're not even
considered city residents because we're not asked to take part in
selecting the city's leaders," said the woman, who was also born
blind.

During the election campaigns, none of the candidates had come
to visit them. "We're definitely not taken into account,"
Nataniel said.

Jayapura Election Committee (KPUD Jayapura) head Diedrick
Kbarek, meanwhile, blamed the city's Office of Social Affairs for
not providing the KPUD with data on the number and location of
blind people.

"Since there was no report (on the numbers of blind people),
we never ordered special ballot papers for them," he said.

On Tuesday, 13 municipalities and regencies in Papua began
voting for their regional heads. The elections for the new Irian
Jaya Barat and Papua provincial governors, meanwhile, are
scheduled for July 27 and in October, respectively.

In Jayapura, the city center was quiet after Papua Governor JP
Solossa declared election day a holiday in province on Monday.

With turnout numbers still uncertain, a total of 171,610
registered voters in four districts were eligible to vote at 457
polling stations on the day.

Solossa voted at TPS 01 polling station in Trikora Dok V Atas
subdistrict in Jayapura. He called for peaceful elections and
urged residents to vote for capable leaders.

Four pairs of candidates are contesting the mayoral and deputy
mayor posts in the landmark elections.

They are MR Kambu-H Sudjarwo (Golkar-Democratic-United
Development Party); JI Renjaan-Arobi Ahmad Aituaraw (coalition of
five parties including Prosperous Peace Party and Indonesian
Democratic Vanguard Party); Rustan Saru-Otniel Meraudje
(Prosperous Justice Party); and Musa Youwe-Nur Alam (coalition of
nine small parties including National Mandate Party and the
National Awakening Party).

As of 7 p.m. local time, or 5 p.m. Jakarta time, provisional
vote counting showed the MR Kambu-H Sudjarwo team was leading
with 18,738 votes, followed by JI Renjaan-Arobi with 15,743
votes, Musa-Nur Alam with 13,135, and Rustan-Otniel with 10,279
votes.