Expense to cost out-of-town votes
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Late last year, a number of non-governmental organization groups and students declared a campaign against voting in the 2004 general election, arguing that the existing political parties lacked commitment to bring about fundamental changes. Worse, they were said to be the offspring of the former New Order regime.
The "Alternative Elections Movement" meant abstention, an intentional act by a registered voter not to cast their vote.
However, presumably a large number of the country's eligible voters will not make it to the polling booths simply because of the confusion that has arisen from redundant voters' registration.
A number of Jakartans said they would not vote in the elections as they did not want to return to their hometowns, where they have been registered as voters. But these would-be voters were not provided with the means to cast their votes in their respective neighborhoods.
The residents are hesitant to exercise their political rights, not because they wish to exercise abstention, but because the cost of going home would be too expensive.
"I am really eager to cast my vote in my home village. But the transportation cost is too high," said Yuni, from Tegal, Central Java, who works as an attendant of a food stall in South Jakarta.
Hanifah, a native of the Central Java town of Magelang, works for a construction company in Bogor, West Java. She has also made up her mind not to return to her hometown for election day.
"My pregnancy is eight months along and I don't want to risk the health of my baby just to cast my vote. Besides, it (going home) would cause too much commotion," she said, adding that the cost of transportation was also high.
A survey by the Institute of Research, Education and Information and Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES) released in May 2003 predicted that the number of people intending to abstain from voting in the 2004 election was a mere four percent of the 141.89 million registered voters.
Member of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Valina Singka Subekti said that the commission had acted as fast as it could in distributing voting cards to all would-be voters. However, even if travelers had obtained voting cards to enable them to vote in their current location, they would still need a recommendation from the Subdistrict Polling Committee (PPS), Valina said.
Promoters of the abstention campaign were confident that their campaign would eventually inspire around 20 percent of registered voters. Such optimism could be realistic, not because of an influential campaign but because of the unintended consequences of redundant voters' registration.