Citizens abroad to vote by mail

Citizens abroad to vote by mail

COPENHAGEN: About 40 percent of eligible Indonesian voters
living in Denmark will exercise their voting right through mail,
an embassy official said.

Yuwono A. Putranto, first secretary for political affairs at
the Indonesian Embassy and deputy chairman of the election
committee here, told The Jakarta Post that Indonesians would vote
by mail because they lived far away from the embassy.

"They are not likely to cast their ballots at the polling
station in the embassy compound," Yuwono said recently.

He said the Indonesians, numbering about 70, lived on Jylland
Island, some 200 kilometers west of here.

There are 214 Indonesians living in Denmark and 181 of them
are eligible to vote in the June 7 polls. Most of the eligible
voters are women.

"Many Indonesian women who married Danish men still hold their
citizenship and will go to the polls," Yuwono said.

The major problem for Indonesian voters is that the election
day, which falls on Monday, is not a holiday, according to
Yuwono.

"We will discuss what the most convenient time will be to set
for voters to cast ballots at the embassy," he said. According to
General Elections Commission rules, the balloting starts from 8
a.m. and must finish by 2 p.m.

Yuwono said the election process would cost the embassy
US$5,520. The budget includes postal expenses and election
committee members' allowances.

Since there are 48 parties contesting this year's general
election, the embassy will help provide data and profiles of each
party to the voters, Yuwono said. (yan)