KPU proposes Rp 2.3t in election funds from national budget

KPU proposes Rp 2.3t in election funds from national budget

Moch. N. Kurniawan
and Yogita Tahilramani
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The General Election Commission (KPU) needs Rp 2.3 trillion for
organizing and conducting the 2004 polls across the nation, KPU
members officially told a hearing at House Commission II for
legal and home affairs on Thursday.

"We will be setting up over 300,000 polling stations across 30
provinces, and nearly 400 regencies," KPU member Imam
Budidarmawan Prasodjo, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia,
told the hearing.

"This is not forgetting the 3 million staff who will need
training in voter education, before being deployed in provinces
and regencies to supervise the voting process nationwide."

In the 1999 elections, Rp 1.3 trillion in election funds was
allocated from the national budget. Imam said this figure was
bound to increase since prices of several election necessities
has sharply risen since then.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbekti added that the funds were
needed for other critical matters such as the formation of a
permanent KPU secretariat office with its own committee in
regencies and provinces.

"This permanency is needed for continuity ... for supervising
future elections and to secure all election assets in provinces
and regencies, which can be reused in all coming elections,"
Ramlan told the hearing.

Following the June 1999 elections, he said, 5,000 typewriters
that had been allocated for the use of elections remain
unaccounted for.

He said that funds for the 2004 polls were also needed to set
up an online database system that records and updates the number
of voters and population data. This he said, would be continually
updated by KPU secretariat members from information provided to
them by district and subdistrict offices.

"Accuracy of such data is crucial during elections. Anybody
for instance, in a district or subdistrict who weds, dies or
moves out, will be noted by subdistrict and district offices,"
Ramlan told The Jakarta Post. "Staffers of KPU secretariats will
be trained to coordinate with these offices in order to get such
data."

The 1999 law on elections stipulates that KPU is responsible
for determining the number of seats in the legislature, both at
the national and regency levels.

However, data on district populations, considered the most
accurate information to calculate regency populations because of
the fast expansion of districts, had not been available to KPU
since they had no access to population records.

Commission members earlier had used data from the 1997
election which was based on 1995 statistics. The home affairs
ministry had said that 11 newly established regencies must be
included with the existing 316 regencies. The commission, forced
to redetermine the allotment of legislative seats, decided to
base its calculations on the latest population figures.

Window: Some forecasted operational expenses for 2004 polls

Use Amount

1. Payment of staff members Rp 235 billion
setting up polling stations
2. Establishment of secretariats, Rp 432 billion
committees on national & regional level
3. Official trips (not elaborated) Rp 155 billion
4. Polling station equipment, Rp 734 billion
printers, ballot papers, stationery,
voting administration needs
5. Voters registration, recording Rp 375 billion
population data, etc.
6. Setting up Election Information System Rp 120 billion
for records of voters & population data

Source: KPU Executive Summary dated June 20, 2002