KPU confident of delivering ballot papers on time
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Friday that it had printed 92 percent of some 156 million ballot papers for the second round of the presidential election in September, and expected to deliver them to polling station committees across the country by Aug. 27 at the latest.
KPU member Hamid Awaluddin told a press conference on Friday that most of the papers had been sent to the local KPU branches. The printing of the ballot papers for provinces in Java was expected to be completed this week.
"We're confident of delivering the papers before the deadline so that the local KPU branches can fold them," he told reporters.
The KPU had earlier said it would start distributing ballot papers on Aug. 25 so that they could reach all of the country's 349 regencies and municipalities by Sept. 5 at the latest.
The country will hold the second leg of the presidential election on Sept. 20, and, according to the Presidential Elections Law, ballot papers should have reached the polling station committees at least ten days before polling day.
More than 153 million people nationwide are eligible to vote in the runoff, when incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will go up against her former coordinating minister for political and security affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is supported by the Democratic Party, the Crescent Star Party (PBB), and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI).
On Thursday, three parties -- the Golkar Party, the Islam- based United Development Party and the Christian-orientated Prosperous Justice Party (PDS) -- pledged their support for Megawati, who has trailed Susilo in virtually all the public opinion surveys conducted so far.
Hamid explained that the printing of ballot papers for provinces outside Java and for polling stations abroad had been completed. Some local General Elections Commission branches (KPUD) in Sulawesi, Riau, Kalimantan, Banten, Maluku, Bali, Sumatra, Papua and Nusa Tenggara had already received their ballot paper allocations.
The KPU had also shipped some 500,000 ballot papers to overseas polling stations, he added.
"We also included additional ballot papers amounting to 2.5 percent of the total number of voters registered to cast their ballots in each polling station," he explained.
Some KPUDs, Hamid said, had asked the commission to send even more ballot papers in the mistaken belief that each polling station was supposed to get additional ballot papers amounting to 10 percent of the number of registered voters in each polling station.
Hamid explained that the central KPU would hold a national working meeting with KPUD representatives to discuss any problems the might arise during the runoff.
"We'll explain to them about the ballot papers and give them other information on the election. This is essential to ensure transparency and avoid problems involving the ballot papers at the polling stations," he explained.
Printing firms started printing the ballot papers soon after the Constitutional Court delivered its decision on the electoral objections filed by eliminated presidential candidate Gen. (ret) Wiranto two weeks ago.