TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Interior Ministry has allowed the use of reference letters from the Population and Civil Registry Office (Disdukcapil) as a requirement to vote in Jakarta Gubernatorial election scheduled for February 2017. The regulation was set forth in circular of the Interior Ministry No. 471.13/11691.
The circular has been issued to allow Jakartans who have yet to own electronic identity card (e-KTP) to vote. However, Jakarta Election Supervisory Agency chairwoman Mimah Susanti said that the use of reference letters may pose a risk of voter fraud. “Population Office must have a system in place to verity the letters because they could be duplicated,” Mimah said yesterday.
The letter may be duplicated to bolster vote count of certain candidates. Mimah has urged the Population Office to disclose the number of reference letters being issued to enable election officers and witnesses to verify them.
Based on the ministry’s circular, the reference letter form issued by the Population Office is very simple. The letter will only have to be signed and sealed by election officials at sub-districts or sub-villages level and will only be valid for regional elections. The reference letter contains the name of voter, personal identity number, address and marital status, similar to the data contained in an identity card. Reference letters may be issued from February 14 until one day before election.
Jakarta Election Commission (KPUD) has also expressed its concern over the validity of reference letters for voting. KPUD member Mochamad Sidik said that election officials will face difficulty in verifying them. “We don’t have the tools,” he said.
The law stipulates that voters unlisted in the final voter list (DPT) may still cast their vote one hour before the voting station closed. They simply have to bring e-KTP or a reference letter from the Dukcapil stating that they are under process of recording the data for e-KTP. Jakarta has as many as 99,456 residents who have yet to own e-KTP.
Director General of Population and Civil Registry, the Interior Ministry, Zuadan Arif Fakrulloh expressed that falsification of reference letters will not happen because recipients of the letter will only be allowed to vote at polling stations corresponding to their respective address. “We will use social control. Residents in the same neighborhood will know each other, so that any stranger who show up [at a polling station] and vote using a reference letter will be quizzed,” Zudan said.
INDRI MAULIDAR
