Coalition proposes stricter regulations for voters

JAKARTA. The Red-and-White Coalition plans to draw up a new voter registration procedure imposing tighter rules for people wishing to exercise their voting rights in the next presidential and legislative elections, scheduled to be held simultaneously in 2019.

Yanuar Arif Wibowo, secretary of the advocate team of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), one of the coalition’s member parties, said on Thursday that the coalition had proposed an electoral system in which those deemed eligible to vote would be required to register themselves to election organizers before they could do so.

“There should be limits imposed on voting procedures. We should not leave them unregulated,” Yanuar said during a press conference at the General Elections Commission (KPU) headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Yanuar, who serves as the coalition’s liaison officer at the KPU, said the stricter rules were needed to keep down the cost of printing ballot papers, as the commission could print only as many ballots as there were registered voters.

“Failing to register to vote means that they don’t want to vote,” Yanuar said.

“An abundance of unused ballot papers because many voters decided to abstain led to high election costs; therefore, we need to think outside the box to deal with the situation,” he went on.

Data from the KPU showed that voter turnout in the July 9 presidential election failed to reach 70 percent, lower than the 75 percent voter turnout in the April 9 legislative election.

To allow for additional voters, Yanuar said the KPU could still provide additional ballot papers amounting to 2 percent of the number of voters registered on fixed voter lists.

He said the public could start to register themselves at election organizers at the sub-district level one year before the voting day.

Apart from budget efficiency, other benefits offered by the new election system include increased public participation, better education for the public on the importance of voting and less risk of electoral bribery.

Yanuar said the coalition was formulating the system and would propose it during the process of revising the Election Law. “The Election Law is one of the laws that will be revised [by the coalition in the House of Representatives],” he said. (Hans Nicholas Jong)