Most provinces yet to get ballot papers

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With only 13 days to go to polling day, only 11 provinces have received all the ballot papers need for the elections to each legislative body, the General Elections Commission (KPU) said.

Despite repeated delays in the election preparation schedule, the KPU has said it has no plans so far to postpone the elections, even in areas far removed from the capital.

In Bandung, West Java, provincial elections commission (KPUD) chairman Setia Permana said that he still lacked 55 million ballot papers for the provincial, regental and municipal legislative council elections.

"This is frightening. If the deliveries take place after March 26, this will present a serious problem for the elections in West Java," he said.

Based on KPU data, as of Tuesday the provinces of Bengkulu and Bangka Belitung had received no ballot papers. Only 13 percent of the required ballot papers had reached Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, while only 8 percent had been delivered to West Sumatra.

Less than 60 percent of the ballot papers for regental/municipal legislative council elections in North Sumatra, the Riau islands and Bali have been printed.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said on Tuesday that the 11 provinces which had received all of their ballot papers were East Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, West Irian Jaya and Papua.

He added that the KPU had instructed the four designated distribution firms to use aircraft to speed up the delivery of the remaining ballot papers to ensure that the April 5 legislative elections would be held on schedule.

Law No 12/2003 on general elections stipulates that 10 days before the polling day, or March 26, the ballot papers must have reached all election committees from the village level right up to those overseas.

KPU member Valina Singka Subekti said that with almost 99 percent of the ballot papers for the House of Representatives printed, 86 percent, or 136 million ballot papers, had been delivered to the regencies/municipalities.

The total number of ballot papers for all elections to the country's legislative bodies amounts to more than 160 million.

Of the 94.91 percent of the ballot papers for the Regional Representatives Council election that had been printed, 74 percent, or 112 million ballots, had already been distributed to the regencies and municipalities, Valina said.

But only 59 percent of the ballot papers needed for the provincial legislative council elections, or 87 million ballot papers, had been distributed, she said.

Only 78 percent of the ballot papers needed for regental and municipal legislative council elections had been printed, while only 36 percent, or 44 million ballot papers, had been distributed, she added.

From Jakarta Antara reported that Governor Sutiyoso said his province would print its own ballot papers if it had not received its full complement of ballot papers 10 days before polling day on April 5.

He said that his administration had allotted Rp 150 billion (about US$ 17.6 million) for emergency electoral preparations.

In a video linkup with the KPU's Nazaruddin and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, South Sulawesi Governor H.M. Amin Syam raised concerns as none of his regencies and municipalities had received the ballot papers.

In Gorontalo, an official with the provincial general elections commission said the province's ballot papers had not yet been received.

Commission deputy chairman Abdul Aziz Isa said all the necessary supplies had been distributed to KPU offices at the regental/municipal levels, except for the ballot papers.