Some residents, who enthusiastically wanted to process documents confirming that they have moved away from their hometowns to enable them to vote in the 2019 general elections, faced arduous procedures to meet the requirements under certain circumstances. The General Elections Commission (KPU) is encouraged to continue facilitating them.
SURABAYA, KOMPAS — Voters in a number of areas enthusiastically wanted to process the documents they needed to vote in locations different from the polling stations they are assigned to at the KPU’s local offices. However, some of them faced problems concerning who was allowed to process the documents until seven days before the voting day of the 2019 elections. These voters must be facilitated by the KPU not making too stern restrictions that could prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote.
The deadline to process the documents to vote in different locations for residents who have already been registered on the final voter list (DPT) is a maximum of 30 days before polling day on April 17, 2019. However, the Constitutional Court decided on March 28 to extend the deadline to a maximum of seven days before the voting day.
However, the new deadline only applies to voters under certain circumstances. They include those who are sick, hit by natural disasters, become prisoners and are carrying out duties during the voting.
This arrangement was regulated by the KPU Circular that was distributed to the KPU in the regions on March 29, 2019.
This condition made hundreds of residents who wanted to get the A5 forms, which enables voters to vote in locations different from the polling stations that they are assigned to according to the DPT, from the Surabaya KPU office on Thursday (4/4/2019) from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., disappointed because they were not included in the criteria.
The majority of the residents were private workers and students in Surabaya from other regions. Those who could not get the A5 forms were angry at the Surabaya KPU officers, both in person and by telephone.
"I want to be able to vote in the general elections. KPU officials said I was late in processing the A5 forms,"said a student of the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya, Wildan Manggara, 25.
Disappointment was also felt by another Surabaya resident, Nayaka Budianto, 54. "My work is also part of the assignment, but, how come, it (the A5 form) cannot be processed?" asked the employee of a private company who plans to vote in Bekasi, West Java.
A Surabaya KPU member, Robiyan Arifin, said that for the group of students and private workers, the period for processing the A5 forms had ended on March 16.
In Semarang, Central Java, a number of students who had not had time to process the A5 forms were also still trying to process the documents to vote in different locations. Frenki Pratama, 19, a Diponegoro University student from the Subulussalam city, Aceh, said that he had not had time to process the A5 form because of his busy schedule. When he heard that there was an extension of the deadline until April 10, he wanted to go the KPU office. "I don\'t know the requirements, but I hope to be able to process it as soon as possible to the KPU so as not to abstain," said Frenki.
Abiding by the Decision of the Constitutional Court
KPU Chairman Arief Budiman said that the students were not included in the category of certain circumstances that would allow the documents to vote in different locations up to seven days before the voting day. "We just follow the Constitutional Court\'s decision," he said.
Even though the deadline was extended, Arief said, the Constitutional Court\'s ruling stated that there were certain limitations. In this regard, he suggested that students use the right to vote in the locations where they are registered.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the Association for General Elections and Democracy, Titi Anggraini, said that with regard to the provision of carrying out duties, some KPUs in the regions interpreted the provision as applicable only to officers of the Polling Station Working Committee (KPPS) on duty on the voting day. Other regional KPUs have different interpretations.
She encouraged the differences in understanding and interpretation of the Constitutional Court\'s decision to be clarified so that there was no difference in treatment of voters in the regions. Titi interpreted the decision of the Constitutional Court to not be limited to KPPS officers, but all people who worked on the voting day.
"Those who have to work on the voting day, such as pilots, medical officers, journalists, or other private and state workers, including those who study like students, should have the right to vote in different locations. The reason is that they are among those who have to work on the voting day," said Titi.
A member of the General Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), Fritz Edward Siregar, said that the Constitutional Court\'s decision basically wanted to guarantee citizens\' right to vote. Therefore, the KPU should not limit it.
According to him, the meaning of "duty" was related to other provisions decided by the Constitutional Court. "For example, for a sick person, it means there must be medical personnel who have to work at the hospital. Thus, medical personnel who work on the voting day may process the document to vote in different locations seven days before the voting day. The same goes for security officers guarding detainees who continue to work on the voting day. It also applies to other types of work, as long as there is the letter of assignment,"said Fritz.
A lecturer at the Politics and Government Department of Gadjah Mada University, Wawan Masudi, urged the KPU to facilitate students from other regions to process the documents to vote in different locations.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission found that thousands of citizens fear losing their voting rights in the 2019 election. This was detected by the 2019 Legislative and Presidential Elections
Monitoring Team in Banten, West Java, East Java, Central Kalimantan and South Sulawesi from March 18 to March 29.
The findings were disclosed in a joint statement presented by the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Ahmad Taufan Damanik, the deputy chairman of Internal Affairs who is also the chairman of the 2019 Legislative and Presidential Elections Monitoring Team, Hairansyah, the coordinator of the Enforcement Subcommittee, Amiruddin, and the coordinator of the subcommission for the promotion of human rights, Beka Ulung Hapsara, at the Office of the National Human Rights Commission, Jakarta, yesterday.