Golkar leads lonely Aceh balloting

Golkar leads lonely Aceh balloting

LHOKSEUMAWE, North Aceh: Golkar Party shrugged off a low voter
turnout to take a provisional lead in the ballot counting here on
Tuesday.

The polling place at Sudirman Square was the only one to have
finished tallying, with Golkar winning 396 votes for the House of
Representatives. The National Mandate Party was second with 243,
followed by the Justice and Unity Party with 132.

At the town's other polling site in Hira district, election
committee workers were seen relaxing and chatting with each
other.

Elsewhere in East Aceh, only two out of eight polling stations
in Santalira Bayu and Lhoksukon districts were functioning, with
a few hundred voters queuing to vote. Polling booths in Lhoksukon
did not have curtains, allowing people to see which party a voter
chose.

A local election committee member, Burhanuddin, said many
people were afraid to go to the polls due to threats from
antigovernment groups.

Burhanuddin said balloting in troubled Peudada, Sawang and
Nisam districts was canceled because people living nearby had
fled their homes.

Meanwhile, a group of unidentified people set on fire an
elementary school building in Santalira Bayu, just 300 meters
away from military and police offices. (46)