Tens of thousands of voters may lose right to vote

Muh. Azis Tunny and Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Ambon/Kupang

Tens of thousands of eligible voters in Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara provinces may not be able to vote in the upcoming elections, as they are not registered with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

In Maluku province, the BPS has finished registering voters, although 7,000 eligible voters have not been registered.

Matheos George Lailossa, a member of the Maluku Provincial Elections Commission (KPUD), said that geographical factors had impeded the registration process.

"Maluku is made up of thousands of islands, so it takes a long time for the bureau staff to visit eligible voters one by one to register them," he said on Thursday in the Maluku capital of Ambon.

As a result, the bureau was unable to meet the Jan. 29 deadline imposed by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Chief of the Maluku KPUD Idrus Tatuhey said that he would write to the KPU to request permission to invite the 7,000 eligible voters who had missed out to register.

"The KPU has to make it quick, because the general election is scheduled for April 5," he said.

Similarly in the East Nusa Tenggara's capital of Kupang, some 30,000 prospective voters in the province may not be able to vote in the elections.

Jhon Lalongkoe, a member of the East Nusa Tenggara KPUD, explained on Friday that most of province's 30,000 eligible voters had "not been at home" when BPS staff had stopped by to register them.

The East Nusa Tenggara KPUD would also write to the KPU to request a second chance for eligible voters to register.

"These people should not lose their right to vote," he said. Some 2 million people have registered to vote in the upcoming elections.