KPU wants more 'dodgy' ink for presidential election
KPU wants more 'dodgy' ink for presidential election
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) plans to procure indelible ink for the July 5 presidential election, despite the recent discovery that the ink used for the legislative election last month contained a poisonous substance.
In a proposal letter sent to KPU regional chapters, the ink would be procured by the KPU along with ballot papers. The letter is supposed to be signed by the KPU deputy secretary-general Sussongko Suhardjo.
The timetable for the ink procurement remains undecided.
For the April legislative election, most of the indelible ink was imported from India; some produced locally.
An investigation by the Indonesian Procurement Watch (IPW) revealed that people in Serpong, Banten had suffered skin infections after using ink left-over from the general election for temporary tattoos.
The ink also contained a substance that could trigger cancer, according to the IPW's report.
IPW executive Dadang Budiana said the watchdog would seek clarification from the KPU over the ink procurement.
"We should be sure that skin contact with the ink is safe," Dadang said on Tuesday.
Election result forms and envelopes would be procured by regional KPUDs, but the commission would reuse ballot boxes, ballot booths and needles to punch ballot papers used in the legislative election.
The KPU has decided there will be no tender for the goods procurement for the presidential election. Consequently, all nine KPU members will not be involved in committees to provide logistics for the July election.
"This will help KPU members focus on other preparations for the presidential election," KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said.
Ramlan also said the KPU would need about 1,600 more tons of plain paper for the presidential election, in addition to 1,400 tons stored in its warehouses.
The KPU has estimated that over 150 million people are eligible to vote in the presidential election.
Sussongko said the KPU would appoint several printing firms to print the ballot papers. The firms must start printing on May 26, complete the job by June 6, and deliver the papers to village election committees (PPS) by June 25.
At present, he said, the KPU was still assessing the performance of companies which printed ballot papers for the legislative election as a basis to appoint firms qualifying for the next ballot paper printing job.
According to him, the KPU would face a tough challenge in fulfilling the 20-day target to distribute ballot papers for the presidential election. It took the KPU 40 days to distribute ballot papers for the legislative election on April 5.
Ramlan said the size of the ballot papers for the presidential election would equal one fourth of those of the legislative election.
He added the KPU had also decided not to require a high security standard for ballot papers for the presidential election due to fears that it would cost too much.
"We consider the signatures of the working committees for polling stations a sufficient security measure," he said.