Voters question ID cards use in local election

Voters question ID cards use in local election

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Objections have been expressed by prospective voters to the
requirement for them to present local identity cards to vote in
the upcoming direct election of regional heads in East Java.

Rudi, who lives in Surabaya but hails from Sidoarjo, responded
to the news that to vote he must hold a local identity card with
confusion.

"I have two identity cards, one for Surabaya and the other for
Sidoarjo," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said the card that was issued in Sidoarjo, his latest place
of domicile, is valid. But, he is also registered as a Wisma
Menanggal, Surabaya resident, though he had requested last year
that the card be revoked.

He obtained the Sidoarjo identity card through the services of
a middleman for Rp 300,000 (US$33), despite the fact that only Rp
5,000 is required for such a service by the Population
Registration Office in Sidoarjo.

He was registered as a Sidoarjo resident and issued with a
card within a day. Without the middleman's services the process
could have taken weeks.

"If the regulation on the use of ID cards prevails, I can cast
my vote in two places," he said, adding that he could also sell
his vote to one of the election candidates.

Harun, a Mojokerto student who lives in Rungkut, Surabaya,
said having begun the complicated procedure of getting an ID card
issued, he would rather not vote than see it through to the end.
Paying Rp 300,000 to avoid the hassle did not appeal to him
either.

First, he had to get a letter from the police saying he has no
criminal record and a second letter from his village
administrative office.

After obtaining the letter, he returned to Surabaya because,
according to the Mojokerto village administration, the letter
could be used to prove that he had once stayed in Mojokerto.

However, in Surabaya, the letter was considered insufficient
documentation for him to be issued with an ID card and a letter
from his previous village administration was requested.

This proved to be another obstacle, though, as his previous ID
card from Mojokerto was revoked two years ago.

"I tried to deal with the problem at the village
administrative office at my place of residence, but I was led on
a wild goose chase. The rules are not clear," Harun said.

He said that as the government was asking voters to present
local ID cards, it must make the application process for ID cards
faster and less expensive.

East Java administration official Chusnul Arifin said the
administration was taking steps to expedite the process of ID
card issuance and has conducted a census to prevent people from
having two ID cards.

The East Java General Elections Commission expects to receive
data from the census by Feb. 28.

Asked about the possibility of manipulation during the data
entry process, Chusnul claimed "the public will be invited to
monitor the process, so I think that can be avoided".

"The decision on ID cards should not be contested anymore
because it has been stipulated in Law No. 6/2005 on the direct
election of regional heads," she said.

She added that under the law, a prospective voter can vote in
the region where their ID card was issued, even if they retain a
seasonal ID card (Kipem)," said Chusnul.