PPDP Faces Difficulty in Collecting Voters Data in Apartment Block and Prisoners

In the plenary meeting to finalize the Temporary Voters List (DPS) on November 1^st 2016, the Voters Data Updater Committee (PPDP) admits that their staff faced difficulty in collecting voters data in residential apartment block and in prison because not all apartment residents in Jakarta actually live in Jakarta and it is difficult to acquire data regarding prisoners from the National Police.

“Our PPDP staffs faced difficulty in collecting voters data in apartment. There are many unoccupied apartments even though the resident was registered in the Potential Voters List. There are also apartment residents who refuse to be registered in the form A.A2 as a prove of verification,” says the Chairman of the Election Commission (KPU) of South Jakarta, Muhammad Iqbal, during the plenary meeting (11/01).

In regards with the difficulty in prison, Iqbal says there are many prisoners who will be losing their voting rights because of the current election regulation.

“During the presidential election, there was no problem because they were allowed to cast their vote at the prvisional polling station in the prison they are being held. However, in local elections, the prisoners are only allowed to vote in the electoral area where they lives, which sometimes far away from the prison,” says Iqbal.