KPU Field Checks Truth Behind Foreigners with Voting Rights

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The General Elections Committee (KPU) will soon verify information of 103 foreign nationals who are supposedly listed in Indonesia’s final voters' list (DPT) for the upcoming presidential election and legislative elections.

KPU is set to mobilize a thorough fact check by interviewing the foreign nationals via one-on-one interview across 54 districts spread in 17 Indonesian provinces.

“The KPU instructed its provincial, district, and city branches to conduct direct data verifications by meeting the 103 alleged foreign nationals in person,” said KPU commissioner Viryan Azis on March 5.

Read also: Bawaslu Finds 2 Foreigners in Cirebon Voters List

He confirmed that KPU will immediately revoke their data from the DPT if rumors prove to be true that the foreign nationals are actually listed in the DPT. Indonesia’s Law No.7/2017 Article 198 on general elections state that the mandatory right to vote is exclusively given to Indonesian nationals above 17 years of age.

First news on this matter broke out across numerous social media platforms in February. It first informed about Chinese national Guohui Chen who owned an electronic ID card (e-KTP) and is also listed in the DPT of Cianjur District, West Java.

Moreover, Cirebon City’s demographic affairs office found two foreign nationals that were included in the region’s DPT for the 2019 general elections.

The elections supervisory agency (Bawaslu) announced that they received conflicting reports from Cirebon City, where 240 foreign nationals do not own any form of official ID, such as an e-KTP and is believed to be excluded from the region’s DPT.

ANTARA | IVANSYAH | RUSMAN PARAGBUEQ