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)