Papua locals take part in election simulation

By Nethy Dharma Soma
Source : The Jakarta Post

Residents in Keerom regency, Papua, on Tuesday took part in the first election drill to prepare for the elections for legislative bodies at the national and regional levels scheduled to take place next year.

The legislative bodies include the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) at the national level, and regional legislative councils at the provincial, mayoralty and municipality levels.

The rehearsal, which took place in Workwana village, went smoothly with villagers and local officials participating in the event.

"Fill the empty seats in the front," shouted a male poll worker at a polling station.

The atmosphere was cheerful as people joked among themselves despite the sweltering heat.

During the rehearsal, a polling station, which served 300 voters previously, accommodated 500 voters.

Voters took around seven minutes to unfold the ballot papers and mark their candidates inside the polling booth.

Each of the mock voters was provided with rice packages and transportation money as they left the polling station.

Residents were also taught voting procedures. During the previous elections, voters perforated the pictures of candidates and political parties, but they will mark them with ink at next year's election.

"Voters can place a tick on a candidate's face, his of her name, or number. A ballot paper with two markings, such as on the legislative candidate's and party's name would be invalid," said Papua General Elections Commission (KPUD) official, Hisjam Sangadji.

Residents also asked a lot of questions during the public awareness campaign.

"What happens if voters are sick and cannot make it to a polling station?" asked a resident.

"Polling workers will come to their homes and assist them with the voting process," Sangadji said.

"What if someone is deaf or illiterate?" asked another resident.

"Polling workers, accompanied by a witness and supervisor, will guide the voter to the polling booth," explained Sangadji.

He emphasized that voters no longer have to perforate ballot papers, but mark them.

"Punching holes is no longer in effect, but ticking or marking is," he said.

Most people preferred ticking despite only recently being made familiar with the process.

"It's easier to use a marker than a nail," Linda, a local resident, said.

KPU commissioner responsible for law and supervision affairs, I Gusti Putu Artha, told reporters that the simulation was aimed at ascertaining the real problems in the field and helping formulate simpler procedures.

"We must be able to formulate the exact procedures on voting for people, from the aspects of time allocation, voters' capacity, adjustment from perforating to marking and voters' background, age and education level," Putu said.

Keerom was one of three places holding a simulation, together with Aceh and East Java.

Keerom was selected because of its pluralism and it is an area which could represent urban and rural communities.

Keerom is home to 29,600 eligible voters and 105 polling stations in six districts.

Keerom regent Celcius Watae expressed his full support for the simulation and public awareness campaign.

"After this, we will help the KPUD to familiarize the public on elections," he said.