Polls peaceful, but rife with flaws: Election monitors

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Monday's legislative election proceeded peacefully but was rife with flaws ranging from logistical shortcomings, vote buying and intimidation of voters at polling stations, poll watchdogs said.

The Independent Election Monitoring Commission (KIPP) said on Monday that over 3,000 volunteers monitoring poll stations in 31 provinces reported that the problems had sprung mainly from a shortage of election materials, which had prevented voters from exercising their constitutional rights.

"In provinces such as West Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, Yogyakarta and even Jakarta, polling stations opened hours after the designated time of 7 a.m. due to logistical problems. Even on the official date, the election could not be held simultaneously," KIPP chairman Ray Rangkuti told a media conference here.

KIPP is one of dozens of independent watchdogs authorized by the General Elections Commission (KPU) to monitor the 2004 election.

Ray alleged that thousands of voters were also denied from voting, due to a shortage of ballot papers.

The poll watchdog also found that voters were intimidated by party members before casting their votes.

"In Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, a bullet was found inside a ballot box, while in Makassar, South Sulawesi, our volunteers witnessed that a local electoral administrator continually pressured voters to choose a certain political party," Ray said, without naming the political organization.

In the Central Java towns of Boyolali and Sragen, the KIPP found that Golkar members distributed cash to would-be voters in the morning, prior to the start of polling.

With such rampant violations and logistical problems, the KIPP feared the public would doubt the validity of the polls.

The watchdog also called on the General Elections Commission (KPU) to declare immediately when balloting for regions that had been unable to hold an election on April 5 would take place. "Until now, KPU has been silent on the issue," Ray said.

Smita Notosusanto of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), meanwhile, highlighted that in some regions a shortage of ballot papers had prevented people from casting their votes.

"Our observers found that many would-be voters with the requisite cards were not allowed to vote. This is a blatant denial of their constitutional rights," she said.

In a number of polling stations, Cetro also discovered that local administrators did not abide by the rules established by the KPU.

"However, violations of the rules were perpetrated with the consent of witnesses sent by political parties and other observers," she added.

Over 147 million people are expected to cast their vote in 585,218 polling stations across the country. The legislative election was scheduled to start at 7 a.m. and finish at 1 p.m., with initial results expected on Monday evening.

Separately, the Asian Network for Free and Fair Elections (Anfrel) said that logistical and administrative problems stood out as the greatest challenge in the election.

Anfrel mission coordinator Herizal Hazri told said that, based on his observations, the bulk of the instructions from the KPU had failed to reach local election administrators, resulting in irregularities in the balloting process.

"I observed that local election administrators simply annulled apparently flawed ballot papers, when in fact they could have been deemed valid according to KPU rules," he said.

Herizal said in at least three polling stations he also found that one key could be used to unlock three different ballot boxes. "This is very worrying, as the result is prone to manipulation," he said.

However, he stressed that overall, the situation was much better than what occurred in the 1999 election, the first since the resignation of former authoritarian president Soeharto.