No votes lost

No votes lost

The tentative voters list for next year's general election has
been announced at subdistrict offices and other strategic
locations. As has been reported, in a number of regions many
citizens who are eligible to vote have not been registered for a
number of reasons. These range from errors in procedure, as was
admitted by the Armed Forces' chief of sociopolitical affairs Lt.
Gen. Syarwan Hamid, miscommunication, absence of those to be
registered, or "other reasons".

As a consequence of this neglect to register thousands of
people, particularly students at Islamic pesantren religious
schools, many people worried to the point of suspecting there
were certain distinct motives behind the oversight.

However, the government made it clear long ago that to miss
out on registering during the initial registration campaign does
not mean to lose one's right to vote. It is expected that after
the announcement of the tentative voters list, people will act to
confirm whether or not they have been registered. Those whose
names are not on the list can and should immediately contact the
voters registration committee, which will conduct a second
registration campaign from June 21 to July 5.

We naturally hope that all the necessary processes and
procedures will be carried out properly and that nobody is
overlooked. The general election is a national effort performed
at considerable cost in terms of money, energy and deliberation.
It would be a pity if this effort should become tarnished because
people's voting rights are not respected accordingly.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta