Residents busy setting up poll stations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the election draws near, people around the country were busy on Saturday erecting polling stations and voting booths, also referred to locally as TPS, and usually consisting of simple voting booths under a temporary tarpaulin roof.

Residents of upmarket areas in Menteng, Central Jakarta were seen setting up a voting center on Jl. Sumenep, while residents in Pangadengan, Pancoran district in South Jakarta had set up about half the TPS needed in that area.

The country will hold the legislative election on Monday (April 5) to elect members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional Representatives Assembly (DPD), and provincial legislature (DPRD I) as well as municipal/regental legislature (DPRD II).

A total of 24 parties will participate in the election, which will be followed by a direct presidential election on July 5 and possible runoff on Sept. 20.

"We're not having any problems finding places to erect the TPS. As a matter of fact, they should all be ready by this afternoon," said Eko Purwanto on Saturday morning in Pangadengan.

Ichsan, head of Polling Station Committee in Slipi, West Jakarta, said that preparations for the legislative election in his district had reached 99 percent.

"We received funds totaling Rp 106 million from the General Elections Committee yesterday and we have distributed to 52 TPS heads in our area last night," he said Saturday.

Many TPS had also been set up in Pasar Minggu and Tanjung Barat, both in South Jakarta, and Depok and Sawangan in West Java.

"We have re-registered our names with our respective TPS. We are ready to vote on Monday. However, my age is wrongly written on the list. I am 35 but it has me listed 15," said Marwoto, a resident of Sawangan, who had just finished re-registering at the nearby TPS together with three of his family members.

In North Jakarta, all 3,874 TPS were reportedly in place by Saturday afternoon.

"North Jakarta is ready for the general election. All TPS and ballot papers are ready, we don't have any problems," said Mabrur Abduh, head of the North Jakarta Election Commission (KPUD).

Residents in Batam, Riau were also busy putting up polling stations on Saturday and all their ballot papers had arrived.

In Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, election officials had set up special voting booths at the Doris Sylvanus General Hospital and the city's correctional center. On top of that, they had also established 508 TPS across Palangkaraya.

In Manado, North Sulawesi, local residents were also busy building poll stations and voting booths across town.

However, since they had not received funds from the General Elections Commission (KPU), they had resorted to using cheaper materials for the voting booths.

"We've heard that we'll receive Rp 100,000 from KPU per election booth, but we don't know whether it's true or not," said Obet, a member of North Sulawesi KPUD.

The head of the North Sulawesi KPUD, Donald Rumokoy, said that KPU did not provide funds to build the TPS and therefore the public should build them on their own.

"If the municipality wants to help, it's up to them but we (KPU) do not provide any funds," he was quoted by Antara as saying.