Double puncture spoils a good poll: Panwaslu

Double puncture spoils a good poll: Panwaslu

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) hailed on Tuesday
the country's first direct presidential election as peaceful and
democratic, but warned that the use of nonpermanent ink and
double perforation of ballot papers could reduce the quality of
the poll.

"We should be grateful that the election was generally free of
violence despite tensions in many poll stations over the use of
nonpermanent ink and the immediate validation of double
perforations on ballot papers," committee member Didik Supriyanto
said.

He was speaking at a media conference attended by Panwaslu
chairman Komaruddin Hidayat, deputy Rozy Munir and member Topo
Santoso Masyhudi.

Didik said the committee found that nonpermanent ink had been
used across the country, which sparked fears that people may vote
more than once.

A number of voters were caught red-handed by Panwaslu
officials in the Central Java town of Brebes, Yogyakarta,
Totitoli in Central Sulawesi and Jayapura in Papua for attempting
to vote twice on Monday.

Many more voters in other regions may have done the same thing
to help their favored candidate, Rozy Munir said.

Panwaslu demanded that the General Elections Commission (KPU)
apologize publicly for its failing to ensure indelible ink was
used in Monday's election.

Rozy said the fact that the KPU changed its rules at the
eleventh hour to declare the ballots with double perforations
valid also caused problems in many polling stations.

"The commission's announcement came too late, particularly for
the eastern part of Indonesia. They (poll committees there)
refused to recount the double-perforated votes as they had
finished counting earlier," he said.

The announcement was released at around 11 a.m. from Jakarta
at West Indonesia Time. West Indonesia Time (WIB) is two hours
later than Eastern Indonesia Time (WIT) and one hour later than
Central Indonesia Time (WITA).

The problem stemmed from voters who failed to unfold the
ballot sheet and, instead, made a hole that went through the
folded sheet to the other side. The KPU then decided to declare
the ballots valid as long as the second perforation was in a
blank part of the sheet.

Rozy said Panwaslu had to approve the KPU's decision to change
the rules in an effort to prevent possible disruptions in the
vote count.

"If the KPU did not change the rules, more than 40 percent of
the votes cast could be declared invalid. This would thus
threaten the validity of the election," he argued.

The supervisory committee asked its members, regional poll
officers and observers to spare more time to monitor the vote
recount to avoid possible violations.

"All parties involved still have to work hard to ensure the
recount proceeds smoothly," Rozy said.

BOX:

Alleged vote rigging at Al-Zaytun probed

The West Java Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) reported
on Tuesday alleged irregularities in the number of voters who
cast their ballots at Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school during
the presidential election.

The sharp increase in the number of voters at Al-Zaytun's
polling stations favored Golkar Party candidates Gen. (ret)
Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid.

Committee head Egypt Sudrajat said his staffers found the
number of voters at the school located in Indramayu, West Java,
increased by up to five times the number of students and
residents living nearby.

"During the legislative election, there were only 11,565
registered voters. But now, the number swelled to 24,818," he
told a press conference in Bandung.

Adjat said his committee members saw people arriving at the
boarding school in groups on Monday, on board more than 300
private cars, trucks and buses.

As many as 24,794 of the voters supported Wiranto and
Solahuddin, six supported Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hasyim
Muzadi, 21 voted for Amien Rais and Siswono Yudohusodo, 16 voted
for Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and two voted for Hamzah
Haz and Gen. (ret) Agum Gumelar.

Separately in Jakarta, the national Election Supervisory
Committee said its members and witnesses were not allowed entry
to the school to monitor the election at Al-Zaytun.

During the news conference, the central Panwaslu switched on a
video showing vehicles transporting people arriving at the
school. Some of the vehicles were painted dark green, and bore
the letters Mabes TNI, or Indonesia Military headquarters.

The committee said it was investigating the "exceptional case"
to find whether the voters were officially registered or they had
cast their votes twice. --JP