Party chiefs denied access to election results database

JAKARTA (JP): Access to the computerized election results database is being granted to five senior government officials but not to the party chiefs, the National Elections Committee said yesterday.

The officials are President Soeharto, Vice President Try Sutrisno, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung, Minister of Home Affairs/Chairman of the General Elections Institute Moch. Yogie S.M. and Minister of Information Harmoko.

Deputy Secretary-General of the National Elections Committee Walujo said: "The five officials will be able to access the electronic ballot-counting through a database installed at their offices or at their homes."

About 124 million Indonesians are registered to vote at 305,219 polling stations across the country tomorrow. Preliminary results from counting in the 27 provinces will be broadcast by state television TVRI from 7 p.m. on election day. Updates will be broadcast every hour.

The final results will be officially announced some time in the middle of next month.

Walujo said the chairmen of the three political contestants Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) were not given access to the database for financial reasons.

"We do not have the money to install the electronic transmission equipment (at the offices of) the chairmen of the three contestants," he said.

But he offered them a daily comprehensive update of the ballot counting at the National Elections Committee headquarters.

Denying the party chairmen access raised questions over access being given to Harmoko, who is also the Golkar chief.

Walujo argued that the privilege was given to Harmoko in his capacity as the information minister, not as the Golkar chairman.

Chairman of the Coordinating Board for the General Election Communications Rear Marshal Sardjono said that, besides the five senior government officials, only selected election committee members would have access to the database.

Sardjono said requests to access the system services would only be granted if the identity of the sender and the receiver was acknowledged by the system.

"Requests by unidentified and unauthorized people will be automatically rejected by the system," he said.

Speaking about the flow of information from the regions to Jakarta, Sardjono said the transmission would start from each polling station.

He said that an officer on duty at each polling station would send the results electronically to the subdistrict polling center.

Each subdistrict would then send their collated results to the regency or mayoralty polling center.

Sardjono said this process would continue until the results reached the General Elections Committee's headquarters. (imn)