Court fines KPU Rp 1t for failing to register voters

Court fines KPU Rp 1t for failing to register voters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Election Commission (KPU) was ordered on Thursday to
pay a Rp 1 trillion (US$110.49 million) fine by a district court,
which found it guilty of not registering some 30 million people,
thus denying them their right to vote in the April legislative
elections.

The class action suit was filed with the Central Jakarta
District Court by an advocacy team against the KPU after some 30
million people were unable to vote in the April 5 general
elections.

The team, comprising 34 lawyers, submitted the suit on April
13 on behalf of six people who claimed to have represented six
regions across the country.

The six people were Zamzami from Aceh representing Sumatra and
Bangka Belitung islands, Jerry Rompah from Jakarta representing
Java, Dachtiar from Banjarmasin representing Kalimantan, Alif
Kamal from Makassar representing Sulawesi, Abdul Hakim from
Kupang representing Bali and Nusa Tenggara provinces, and Charles
Imdir from Sorong representing Papua and Maluku provinces.

Presiding judge Lilik Mulyadi said the KPU was proven guilty
of failing to carry out its task in registering the 30 million
eligible voters.

Citing Article 53 of the Law No. 12/2003 on general elections,
he said the process of voter registration is the responsibility
of the KPU.

"The plaintiff has managed to prove that denying people the
right to vote is a violation of the law," Lilik said during the
trial as quoted by Antara.

The Rp 1 trillion fine was to compensate material losses worth
some Rp 450 billion and non-material losses of Rp 550 billion to
the victims. The 30 million people denied voting rights will each
receive Rp 15,000 each in compensation for administrative and
transportation fees.

The panel of judges also ordered the establishment of a
committee designed to ensure the compensation money went to the
right people.

The court rejected the plaintiff's demand of confiscating the
KPU office and all of the facilities granted to the commission
members.

In response, KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said his
office would file an appeal, arguing that the failure to register
the 30 million voters was not intentional.

"The task to register voters was not just our job, but it also
required participation from the public. We tried our best and we
even extended the closing date for registration several times to
let more people register themselves," he said.

Ramlan cast doubt over the huge number of unregistered voters
as mentioned in the suit. He claimed that based on the
commission's date, up to 91 percent of the 150 million eligible
voters had already been registered.

The data, he added, was also supported by reports from
"reputable" organizations, such as the Institute of Research on
Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs and the
National Democratic Institution.

"Therefore, it should be taken into question whether or not
those who claimed to be unregistered had actively tried to
register, because registration is a two-way street," said Ramlan.

KPU's lawyer, Yodi Dermawan Basuki, lamented the court ruling,
and concluded that it was "too excessive".

He said the mechanism of voter registration was already set
out in Law No. 12/2003. "In addition to the KPU's role, the
public must also play a role in the process," he said.

Raja Nasution, from the advocacy team, welcomed the ruling and
said the court had fully understood that the rights of the
unregistered voters had been violated.

He explained that the number of 30 million unregistered voters
was confirmed by a report from the Center for Electoral Reform,
which said that 20 percent of 150 million eligible voters had
their right to vote taken away because they were not registered
by the commission.