Voters still waiting for registration forms
JAKARTA (JP): Slow delivery of voter registration forms continue to set back the registration process, reported Director General of Public Administration and Regional Autonomy Ryass Rasyid at a meeting of provincial elections committees on Wednesday.
"Some packages, when opened, only contain a few dozen forms when they should contain hundreds," Syahrir, the chairman of the West Java committee, said.
Areas in Sulawesi also reported similar slowness. The General Elections Commission (KPU) has extended the voter registration period to May 15, citing a range of difficulties, including security disturbances.
Chairman of the Aceh provincial committee Farhan Hamid, said up to Tuesday 48.41 percent of the total 2,315,244 eligible voters in Aceh had registered.
In areas hit by military action 18.07 percent were registered in North Aceh, 12.22 percent in Pidie and 46.75 percent in East Aceh.
"East Aceh has a higher percentage because it is located near the border of Medan, so they are not too affected by unrest or other pressure," Farhan said.
Antara reported from Irian Jaya that as of Wednesday regency election committees in Paniani and Puncak Jaya were yet to submit lists of eligible voters.
The news agency quoted officials at the provincial elections committee in Jayapura as blaming the lack of transportation and communications devices for the tardy registration process.
Paniani has set up 98 subdistrict polling committees which have listed 47,570 people qualified to vote, while Puncak Jaya has formed 102 subdistrict polling committees, with 32,831 people eligible to vote.
Jayawijaya is another regency which performed poorly, with only 11.73 percent of 257,292 eligible voters registered with subdistrict polling committees across the town.
Biak Numfor regency fared the best, registering 75.26 percent of 60,678 eligible voters.
Altogether, less than 50 percent of 1,229,223 eligible voters have signed up for the polls in Irian Jaya.
In a related development, KPU chairman Rudini said on Wednesday tens of thousands of refugees would only be able to vote for legislators at the national level.
Refugees have fled home towns in Maluku province and West Kalimantan, where hundreds have been killed in ethnic and religious clashes.
"This is because they are not located in their own provinces," he said.
On Wednesday, the commission also decided that the registration period in Maluku would be extended to May 21, given the conditions there.
Maluku committee chairman Lutfi Sanaky told Antara in Ambon that only 48.2 percent of 1.2 million eligible voters had registered.
Campaign schedules for West, Central and East Java and Bali have yet to be arranged.
"In Central Java, the campaign schedule will be set by the regional elections committee, as they are the ones who know the areas and areas prone to unrest," chairman of Central Java's committee Hadi Pranoto said.
Hadi cited several regencies which had set campaign schedules, such as Rembang, Jepara, Tegal, Cilacap, Kebumuen, Wonogiri and Karang Anyar.
Campaigning will be taken in turn by the 48 parties and security forces are taking extra measures to prevent clashes, he said.
An executive of the Bali elections committee, HS Abdul Wahab, expressed confidence campaigns in Bali would be safe. (edt/amd)