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.