MPR picks old-fashioned way of voting

JAKARTA (JP): High-tech phobia is probably the most appropriate description for why hundreds of millions of rupiah worth of electronic voting panels have been shunned at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Many wary legislators suspect the sophisticated devices can be fixed.

"The MPR members do not believe that there will be no trickery or manipulation if the electronic panel is used in voting. They'd rather choose manual way to cast their vote," Eddie Siregar of the Assembly's public information unit said.

The Philips electronic panel, which also functions as a speaker, was installed on each of the member's desk to be used for electronic voting.

They were installed only days before the Assembly's General Session opened on Oct.1.

There are several choices available on the panel. Members only need to press buttons marked for agree, disagree or abstain to cast their votes. There are also numeric choices from one to five.

Siregar was adamant the only reason for installing the devices was to ensure smooth procedures.

"Why should we waste a big chunk of our budget for the 700 devices if not for the success of this session?"

The devices ease voting procedures and guarantee no cheating because all voting entries and the tabulations are computerized, he added.

A central data processing system has been installed in the chamber to receive input conveyed by the electronic panel. Results of tabulation are immediately displayed on a giant screen.

"But the MPR members and, I think, some people have expressed their suspicion of the device," Siregar said glumly.

Multimedia expert Roy Surya recommended that the electronic voting system should not be used in the Assembly because it gave the impression of inefficiency and was prone to manipulation.

"I think the electronic device should not be used in the MPR session or, if need be, use of the device should be delayed," Roy told The Jakarta Post in Yogyakarta. He stressed the number of Assembly members was not too great for smooth manual vote tabulations.

He said that despite the computerization of the ballot counting for the June 7 general election, the delayed sending of the results and manipulation also occurred in several areas.

"Just compare the number of Indonesian people who participated in the June 7 polls and the number of MPR members which are only 700 people. The speed of counting for the two events will not be significantly different due to the use of a similar system that is prone to manipulation."

Roy said the electronic voting panels operated under the Boolean principle.

"It's already common knowledge that any electronic device which uses computer as its central operator can be set up to meet different demands. In its application, an independent technology consultant should be invited to monitor its use," he said.

The options "and" and "or" can be misdirected in favor of a certain party even if the data entry is correct, he said.

Roy argued that manual voting provided the MPR secretariat with more accurate documents which could be verified at any time.

"If honesty and fairness is needed in the session, I think manual voting is better," he said.

Lawmakers tried to use the panel during the general rehearsal a day before the Assembly opened. Many complained that the device was too complicated and others outright rejected its use.

With the electronic panel board now serving only as speakers, millions of rupiah were expended for little return.

Session organizers declined to reveal how much was spent on purchasing and installing the devices.

"The budget is not a problem because people will learn later that the device will be useful someday, when MPR members finally believe that computer can't lie to us," Siregar said.

The first voting was held for the election of the Assembly speaker on Oct. 3. It was done the old-fashioned way.

In a manual vote, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais was overwhelmingly elected the MPR speaker in a process lasting more than four hours.

The 700 Assembly members were called one by one to walk to the polling booth to cast their vote. An official from the Assembly secretariat later read out each ballot as another official tallied the votes on a white board

A second round of voting was held for the speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Oct. 6 after results of a consultative meeting were rejected by the majority of lawmakers. Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung was eventually selected to head the House after voting which went on until long past midnight.

There is still the vote on President B.J. Habibie's accountability speech on Tuesday and the presidential election on Wednesday.

With the voting panels left idle, it means extra work for the Assembly organizers.

"That's the cost. But many are satisfied with the mechanism although they have to wait for hours after they cast their votes," Siregar said.

The voting panels may have turned out to be a waste of time and money, but many can understand the wariness of legislators after decades of political oppression under Soeharto.

A direct vote, without the pressure of facing possibly harsh consequences, remains a new freedom to be tasted by the legislators. They are finding that effecting democracy is not only political jargon, but something that must be earned through hard work and sincerity which comes at a very great cost. (emf/23)