Several NGOs strive to educate voters
M. Taufiqurrahman and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta
A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have taken over from the General Elections Commission (KPU) in educating voters about the unprecedented presidential election.
Radio 68H, one of the NGOs, said on Thursday it had been broadcasting voter education programs since the run-up to the April 5 legislative election and that was expected to last until September.
"We have been conveying a message to the public, including the need to exercise common sense in response to candidates' promises and how to correctly perforate the ballot paper," Radio 68H executive director Santoso said.
He said such public service announcements were aired up to seven times a day and had received a positive response from the public.
Santoso believed that the voter education program was more effective than street rallies organized by the candidates.
Earlier, a survey by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) revealed that 39 percent of respondents did not know the right way to vote.
Effendy Panjaitan of the Medan, North Sumatra-based Institute of Policy Studies and Advocacy (Elsaka) said it was targeting women in their voter education programs.
He said that ahead of the April 5 legislative election, women were left ignored in voter education.
"However, despite the lack of education, women were enthusiastic in exercising their right to vote in the election. Our current program will concentrate on them," he said.
Elsaka, he said, aimed at reaching up to 90 percent of eligible female voters in North Sumatra.
The KPU announced that 27 NGOs would be awarded grants to carry out voter education programs for the presidential election.
The NGOs, which were hand-picked from 250 organizations around the country, will rack up a total of Rp 25 billion in funds provided by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Separately, an opinion poll conducted by the Institute for Democracy Studies (LKaDe) showed that although the candidates running under the Democratic Party flag, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla, remained on top, their popular appeal had diminished in the public's eye.
The survey said the popularity of the Susilo-Kalla ticket had dropped to 33.6 percent from around 40 percent previously, in a survey held in late May.
The survey found a correlation with a smear campaign against the pair, including the alleged involvement of Susilo -- a retired four-star general -- in the July 27, 1996, incident, which marked the bloody takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters.
Another issue that was damaging to their image was their stance toward the application of sharia (Islamic law), the LKaDe survey said.
The survey, carried out between June 16 and June 18, interviewed 2,000 respondents in 15 cities about their preferred presidential candidates.