Regions face poll delay: Cetro

Regions face poll delay: Cetro

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, West Java

The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) has warned of elections
delays in some areas after the General Elections Commission (KPU)
set a March 30 deadline for ballot papers to reach polling
stations, five days behind the initial schedule.

"The new schedule for the printing and distribution of ballot
papers only increases the possibility of elections delays in some
areas," Cetro vice executive director Hadar N. Gumay said over
the weekend on the sidelines of a two-day workshop for the press.

He suggested that the KPU prepare for belated polls in areas
where ballot papers fail to arrive on time. The general election
is scheduled to be held on April 5.

He said the KPU's repeated failure to meet the schedule for
procuring elections materials cast doubt over whether the
commission could hold the elections on time.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti announced on Saturday that
some polling stations would receive their ballot papers on March
30, not March 25 as initially scheduled due to problems in the
development of negative template film.

"We cannot sleep well with the current situation in the
preparation for the elections," he said.

KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah did not rule out the possibility
of holding the polls after April 5 in some areas, but said the
KPU had not yet anticipated any elections delays.

"We have not thought about elections delays in any areas.
However, delays may occur in a small number of areas if the
materials fail to reach polling stations by April 5," he said.

He said ballot papers could arrive late in some 30 percent of
the over 400 regencies and municipalities.

"It is very likely that some 30 percent of ballot papers will
not reach regencies and municipalities by March 15 and polling
stations by March 25, as initially scheduled," he said.

The new schedule set by the KPU for the printing of ballots is
a best-case scenario, with printing firm Temprina Media Grafika
saying it will be able to complete the printing of ballots for
the election of House of Representatives and Regional
Representative Council members in three days.

Another printing company, Pabelan, however, has said it will
require 10 days to complete the printing.

Mulyana said that under the new timetable, the template for
the ballot papers for the election of House of Representatives
members in 69 electoral districts should be completed on Sunday,
with the printing of the ballots taking place between Monday and
Thursday.

The template of ballot papers for the election of Regional
Representatives Council (DPD) members in 32 electoral districts
is scheduled to be completed on Monday, so the printing of the
ballots will start between Tuesday and Thursday, he said.

Ballots for the election of Provincial Legislature (DPRD I)
members will be printed from March 3 to March 7, Mulyana added.

He said the template for ballot papers for the election of
Regental Legislature (DPRD II) members would be completed on
March 4, with the printing of ballots to begin on March 5.

The winners of the KPU tender to print ballots are to start
distributing ballots to regencies and municipalities on March 4
or March 5. Mulyana said the final ballot distribution should
take place on March 11 or March 12.

A contingency plan prepared by the KPU to cope with ballot
delivery problems involves using the Indonesian Military to speed
up the delivery to remote areas and those areas experiencing
conflict.

Mulyana said that on Monday he would meet with Grafitec, one
of two film printing firms hired by the KPU, to ask for a
guarantee the firm would be able to complete the templates
according to the commission's new timetable.

"If Grafitec cannot do it, we will either add new printing
firms or ask the ballot paper printing firms to produce the
templates themselves," he said.

He also said the KPU had identified four ballot paper printing
companies that had subcontracted our planned to subcontract their
printing jobs, which is not allowed.

"In these cases, the KPU cannot just terminate the contracts
with the companies because we are racing against time. We must be
wise in resolving this problem," he said.

The KPU has appointed 18 companies to print 660 million
ballots for the April 5 elections.

The commission has encouraged those companies with limited
capacity to ask for help from fellow tender winners instead of
bringing in subcontractors.