Polling Station Working Committee (KPPS) officials assist local people at polling station no. 4 in Gambir sub-district, Gambir, Central Jakarta, during voting day for the Jakarta gubernatorial election on Wednesday (15/2).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — President Joko Widodo has expressed gratitude that the 2017 simultaneous elections in 101 regions on Wednesday ran peacefully. The President called on everyone to return to work.
“We are thankful that voting in 101 regions ran peacefully. I want to express appreciation for the General Elections Commission [KPU], the Election Supervisory Agency [Bawaslu], the National Police [Polri], the Indonesian Military [TNI] and all security personnel for their hard work. I also thank the people for taking part in local elections,” the President said on Thursday (16/2) at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.
The President called on everyone to return to work and implement development programs. Brotherhood, solidarity and unity must be top priorities, he said.
Generally, voting on Wednesday took place smoothly. There were a few glitches, such as a lack of ballots in some polling stations in Jakarta. But the election process was not disrupted.
Misunderstanding
KPU commissioner Sigit Pamungkas said separately that from a preliminary evaluation, the KPU found there was misunderstanding on the part of some poll organizers at polling stations (KPPS) regarding stipulations about voters who wanted to vote an hour before polling closed.
That is an issue that will be assessed in preparation for the next elections, including the runoff of the Jakarta election.
“There were a few failures on the part of the KPPS. For example, voters not in possession of C6 Forms [invitations to vote] can only vote in the last hour. But this did not mean people were not registered on the voter list. If they were on the list the KPPS needed only to check their IDs,” Sigit said.
There was also a perception among KPPS that voters who brought along IDs or notification letters but were not on the voter list had to show other forms of identity to confirm they really were residents of the area. This was aimed at preventing manipulation, but it could have been seen as restricting the right to vote.
Point 2 (b) of KPU Circular No. 151/KPU/II/2017 on Voting and Ballot Counting issued on Feb. 10, 2017 stipulates that if voters are not in possession of a C6 Form but are on the voter list, they can vote after showing an ID or passport containing their name, address and photo.
However, KPU Jakarta issued Circular No. 162/KPU-Prov-010/II/2017 on Feb. 13, 2017, which contained more requirements to prevent manipulation. Point 4 (b) stipulates that voters not on the voter list can vote by showing ID or a notification letter from the population and civil registry office and family card. KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay said some requirements seen as restrictive would be reviewed for the Jakarta runoff. A detailed standard procedure will be made to avoid the same mistakes. The KPU will also update the voter list from the first round with additional voters for the runoff in Jakarta.
Bawaslu member Daniel Zuchron said there was indication that in Wednesday’s voting some voters used the C6 Form of other people while some residents lost their right to vote. Bawaslu will investigate this preliminary finding for further improvement.
Stay calm
Meanwhile, supporters and the campaign teams of Banten gubernatorial candidates have been urged not to overreact to the quick count and to wait for the official announcement of vote counting by the KPU Banten.
“Whether the regional election runs peacefully depends on the candidates and their teams,” KPU Banten campaign, voting and ballot counting working group chairman Syaeful Bahri said yesterday.
The Banten election was contested by two candidate pairs, Wahidin Halim-Andika Hazrumy and Rano Karno-Embay Mulya Syarief. According to quick counts there is a slight margin between the two candidate pairs.
Aceh Independent Election Commission chairman Ridwan Hadi also asked the public to wait for the official ballot counting results of the gubernatorial election to be announced on Feb. 25-27, 2017. No pollsters announced quick counts of the 2017 Aceh gubernatorial election, which was contested by six candidate pairs.
