Complexity of Problems Regarding Voters List in West Papua Elections

The problems surrounding the local election process in West Papua are getting more complex. One of the roots of this is the fact that the West Papuan local administrative hasn’t established the Election Monitoring Committee (Panwaslih) that is necessary for monitoring the voters list. As the consequence, the election process in West Papua is stuck in voters registration process.

“We are unable to provide any information regarding the voters list because there is no Panwaslih yet, and the Election Commission (KPU) has not provide us with the DP4 (Data on the Potential Voters),” says the Chairman of the Election Monitoring Body (Bawaslu) of West Papua, Ishak Waramori (10/28).

Ishak says, after KPU submit the DP4, Bawaslu of West Papua will immediately verify and match the data contained in the DP4 with the data collected by the local elections committee. In some areas, there are reports that say the number of registered voters is greater than the number of actual citizen.

“Many people complaint about this incongruity. In an area, the discrepancy between registered voters and actual citizen is up to 300 percent. We can’t do anything about it because KPU hasn’t provide us with DP4,” says Ishak.

In addition, according to Ishak, many West Papua citizens protested against the use of electronic Citizen Idetification Card (e-KTP) as a requirement for voter registration because many villagers in West Papua have not received their e-KTP until now.

“Many people are protesting against e-KTP, especially in Maybrat. It was quite a commotion,” Ishak says.

Ishak hopes central KPU and central Bawaslu immediately take the necessary measures to resolve the problem. They have to immediately resolve the problems regarding voters registration and voters list because it may increase the possibility of fraud and violation in election.