Weather conditions delay polls

Weather conditions delay polls

The Jakarta Post, Padang/Medan/Kupang

Bad weather and increased volcanic activity have meant voting was
delayed in remote villages in Sumatra and East Nusa Tenggarra on
Monday.

Regional General Elections Commissions (KPUDs) delayed polls
in two villages in West Sumatra and eight villages in North
Sumatra as ballot papers and other election materials had not
arrived.

Some 2,000 people waited in vain to cast their votes in the
villages of Simalegi and Simatalu in North Siberut because bad
weather and high seas had prevented delivery on time, West
Sumatra KPU official Husni Kamil Mubarak said.

High seas also meant eight villages in North Sumatra's South
Nias regency missed out voting on Monday, provincial KPUD
chairman Irham Buana Nasution said. Data about the number of
voters in the villages in Pulau-Pulau Batu and Hibala was not
available at press time.

Irham said the villages were located in remote areas and could
only be reached by boat.

"We tried to transport the ballot papers to the location. But
the storm has prompted us to delay," he told The Jakarta Post at
his office in Medan.

Irham hoped the ballot papers would reach the villages on
Tuesday.

Meanwhile in East Nusa Tenggara, the KPUD delayed the voting
in two villages beneath Mount Egon, which were evacuated after
volcanic activity on the mountain increased, affecting about
1,000 registered voters.

KPUD official Johanis Depa said his office had assigned a
special team to help organize polls in the two villages.

However, a quick evacuation had made it difficult to fix a new
date for the election, he said. Some villagers had not brought
their ID cards when leaving their homes and local election
officials did not bring election materials with them.

Johanis said he was informed that all the election materials
had been lost. "The KPU is planning to replace the materials," he
said. The committee would also give temporary ID cards to people
to allow them to vote.