INDONESIANS ENTHUSIASTICALLY PARTICIPATE IN EARLY VOTING OVERSEAS by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 1, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia will organize parliamentary elections simultaneously throughout the  country on April 9, but its citizens overseas cast their ballots earlier, namely on March 30 to April 6, 2014.

        A number of Indonesians enthusiastically cast their votes for legislators in eight cities abroad on Sunday, March 30 and Monday, March 31. 
    On Sunday, early voting was organized in Beijing and Shanghai in China, Hong Kong, Copenhagen in Denmark, Santiago in Chile, and Brasilia in Brazil, while it was conducted on Monday in Kabul in Afghanistan and Quito in Ecuador.

         Based on the Eligible Voters List for the General Elections 2014, the number of eligible voters overseas is 2,025,005 people. They are located in 130 countries, which will have 873 polling stations.

         The early voting from March 30 to April 6 is expected to increase the turnout of voters overseas.

         "In 2009, the turnout was only 22.3 percent. Therefore, this time we organized early voting, including by using drop boxes and mail," Chairman of the Overseas General Election Committee Wahid Supriyadi said on Monday.

         They can personally come to the polling stations set up by the Indonesian representative offices overseas, drop their ballots in boxes provided in certain locations or mail their ballots.

         All ballots must be received by the Overseas General Elections Committee by April 17 at the latest. On April 18, the ballots must be delivered to the National General Elections (KPU) in Jakarta, Wahid said.

         The Indonesian diplomat expressed his appreciation to the host countries for allowing Indonesia to hold the voting.

         "Particularly we appreciate the Hong Kong government for allowing us to set up 13 polling stations in a public place, notably Victoria Park," he said as quoted by Kompas daily.

         Assisted by 105 election workers and volunteers, the voting process in Victoria Park ran peacefully and was orderly. The holding of the voting for Indonesia's general elections in an open public space was the Hong Kong-based Overseas Election Committee (PPLN)'s first experience.

         Indonesia's Consul General in Hong Kong Chalif Akbar said 4,800 of 102,000 registered voters confirmed that they would send their paper ballots by mail.

         A number of Indonesians whose names are not on the final voter list can still cast their votes by using their identity cards, according to him.         
    In Beijing, a total of 1,703 Indonesians living in China cast their votes on Sunday by coming to the polling stations or sending their ballots by mail.

         The chairman of Beijing's Overseas Election Committee (PPLN), Sugeng Wahono, said 1,186 registered voters came to polling stations at the Indonesian embassy and consulates in other cities in China.  
    About 517 registered voters living outside Beijing sent their paper ballots by mail. "We have even provided a drop box for our citizens in Tianjin and we had picked the box on March 23," he said.

         Wahono said there were two voting booths at the Indonesian embassy, and Indonesians living in other cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau, were also provided with polling stations.

         Indonesians living in Kabul and Quito also went to vote at polling booths on Monday, while those residing in Damascus in Syria and Havana in Cuba will go to polling stations on April 3.

         Indonesians living in Abu Dhabi, Algiers, Amman, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Khartoum, Kuwait, Kiev, Maputo, Moskow, Muscat, Sana'a, and Teheran are scheduled to go to the polling stations on April 4. 
    The voting in cities such as Antananarivo, Baghdad, Bangkok, Belgrade, Berlin, Bern, Bogota, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Canberra, Caracas, Chicago, Colombo, Dakar, Darwin, Davao City, The Hague and Dili will be held on April 5.

         On April 6, Indonesians living in cities such as Abuja, Addis Ababa, Ankara, Astana, Athens, Baku, Beirut, Bandar Seri Begawan, Budapest, Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Harare, Ho Chi Minh City, Islamabad, Istanbul, and Kuala Lumpur will cast their votes for the parliamentary election.  
    Indonesian citizens living in Cairo, Egypt, will vote on April 5, 2014. The number of registered voters in Egypt reached 4,290 people. 
    "The Indonesian citizens living outside Cairo have had the opportunity to cast their votes since Thursday, March 27," the Egyptian chapter chairman of the PPLN, Muhammad Saifuddin, told Antara in Cairo on Sunday.

         According to him, the PPLN personnel went to cities outside Cairo such as Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, Tanta, Zakazik, Mansourah and Tafahna to help the Indonesians cast their votes through mobile polling stations or drop boxes.

         Indonesia will hold legislative elections on April 9 and presidential elections on July 9, 2014. This year, 15 political parties--12 national and three locals--are participating in the elections.

         In the parliamentary elections, some 6,607 candidates are contesting for 560 seats. In addition, there will be elections for 132 seats for members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) at the national level, 2,112 provincial parliamentary seats and 16,895 seats for district level legislative assemblies.

         The KPU had declared that the total number of eligible domestic voters for the general elections in 2014 was 185.8 million.

         They will cast their votes at 545,778 polling stations in 81,034 villages in 6,980 sub-districts located in 497 districts and cities in the country's 33 provinces. 

 (T.F001/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 01-04-2014 22:19:36