Most regencies ready to hold elections:KPU
Most regencies ready to hold elections:KPU
Moch. N. Kurniawan and P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) said on Saturday most
regencies across the country were ready to hold elections as
scheduled on Monday.
KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said some delays in the
distribution of ballot papers might occur in remote areas of
Papua and Central Kalimantan.
"Ballot papers are expected to reach remote areas in those
provinces on election day on Monday, but we will see how we are
progressing in the distribution in those areas tomorrow
(Sunday)," he said.
He said the remote areas in Papua where the ballots were
expected to arrive on Monday included Mimika, Bovendigul and
Puncak Jaya. He did not elaborate on the areas in Central
Kalimantan.
"We will hold a briefing on Sunday to announce the final
progress of the ballot paper distribution to all regencies," he
said.
Trouble spot areas like Aceh, Maluku and North Maluku are also
ready to hold the polls, he said.
A total of 147.4 million voters are eligible to vote in 440
regencies at 585,218 polling stations across the country.
Separately, a top home ministry official said the KPU would
announce whether or not the elections would be delayed in some
areas.
The official, Muhanto, said there were only a few regions that
had yet to receive ballot papers and other election materials.
Batam, to the south of Singapore, the Southeast Sulawesi town
of Kendari and the capital Jakarta all announced they had
completed all the preparations for the polls.
"All the ballot papers have been distributed in Batam and I
hope the supply is sufficient," said Agustar, a member of the
local KPU.
The total number of ballot papers distributed in Batam
surpasses the number of eligible voters in the province,
1,190,077.
In South Sulawesi, five regencies/municipalities are yet to
receive ballot papers. They are Luwu, Mamasa, Barru, Bone and
Makassar. Governor Amin Syam said he was optimistic the ballot
papers would arrive at polling stations in the areas on Sunday.
Some polling stations in the East Nusa Tenggara capital of
Kupang are also still waiting for ballot papers.
The head of the local KPU, Robinson Ratu Koreh, said the
distribution of ballot papers to the East Flores regency was
still underway.
In Jambi, only 90 percent of the ballot papers have arrived.
But the head of the local KPU, Abdul Rasyid, is optimistic the
polls there will not be delayed.