Papua 'walk the walk' before voting

Papua 'walk the walk' before voting

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post/Jayapura

Walking one or two days to vote is not usual for the people of
Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province.

In Jayawijaya regency, for example, one of the most remote and
mountainous regencies in the province, people have to walk for at
least one day to reach the district capital to vote. Many of the
registered voters make the event a family affair, bringing along
their children, grandchildren, pets and pigs to the polling
station.

During the New Order era, residents only had to make the
journey once every five years. This year, however, was a very
busy voting season. There was the April 5 legislative election,
the first round of the presidential election on July 5 and the
second round and September 20.

Despite the difficulties, residents are eager to travel to
polling stations so they can participate in the country's
democracy, while at the same time catching up with relatives from
distant hamlets.

Residents bring along musical instruments, food and drink to
the polling stations, and after they vote the real party begins.

Officials support this tradition because they know it helps
improve voter turnout.

Hasjim Sangadji, the secretary of the Papua General Elections
Commission (KPU), said the commission provided meals to residents
to entice them to come out and vote.

"If we do not provide them with meals, they are not interested
in voting," he said.

The chairman of the Jayawijaya KPU, Agustinus Rorong, agreed
that the commission took advantage of local traditions to attract
local voters to the polls.

"We use the traditions to attract them to participate in the
election," said Rorong.

Hasjim Sangadji said Papua had very unique geographical
features compared to other provinces in Indonesia.

Its mountainous areas prevent people from traveling by car or
motorcycle, meaning they have to go by foot or airplane to reach
their destinations.

The sparse population poses another problem for the KPU. One
subdistrict can be home to just 10 families, and these 10
families might include just five registered voters.

The lack of registered voters forces the KPU to pool several
polling stations from the same district into one polling station,
for the sake of efficiency.

Due to its difficult terrain, Sangadji said Papua received
special funds from the central government for organizing the
election in the province.

Some of this money went for transporting election materials to
the more remote areas and purchasing meals provided for
residents at the polling stations, Sangadji said.

However, he said not all polling stations put on a feed for
residents. This special treatment is reserved for polling
stations in the remoter areas. In Jayawijaya regency, these
remote hamlets include the Kenyam, Mapenduma, Tiom, Gamelia,
Apahapsili, Abenaho and Kobakma hamlets.

This generous treatment and the traditional customs help
account for the high turnout in the elections in Papua.

In the legislative election, 155,476 out of some 160,000
registered voters in Jayawijaya regency voted. In the first round
of the presidential election, the number of votes cast fell to
152,675, but rose again to 152,675 in the second round of the
presidential election.

In total, above 90 percent of the total number of registered
voters in the province voted in the three elections.