Indonesian Diaspora Voter Turnout Makes Meager Climb in Hong Kong
Indonesian domestic workers congregate in Hong Kong's Victoria Park in 2008. For the first time, polling stations for the Indonesian legislative elections were opened there this year, resulting in higher voter turnout, according to election officials. (Wikimedia Commons)
Jakarta. As overseas ballots for Indonesia's April 9 legislative elections came in from Hong Kong — the first place to open its ballot boxes — a General Elections Commission (KPU) official said voter participation was up from 2009, but still quite low.
"Compared to the last election, voter turnout in Hong Kong is far greater," KPU commissioner Arief Budiman said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Around 700 people cast votes in 2009, while around 6,600 did this year — some eight times more, he said.
Overseas voting began on March 30 and ends April 6.
Arief said that the KPU this year was allowed to open polling stations in Victoria Park, where most Indonesian migrant workers flock to on weekends, in addition to the usual polling booths at the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI).
Hong Kong recorded some 102,000 Indonesian residents listed in Indonesia's final voter list (DPT), only a small portion of whom cast ballots.
"There are some of them who are not listed in the DPT and we facilitated them to use their votes," Arief said. "I think the KPU has done a lot of things [to increase voter turnout], but what needs to be done is to raise awareness."
Arief said that legislative elections tended to be less popular than presidential elections due to the large number of candidates.
"Presidential elections are easier," he said. "The trend nationally is that presidential elections attract more participation from the people than legislative elections do."
Ferry Kurnia Rizkyansyah, another KPU commissioner, said that ballots from overseas elections would be kept at their respective embassies until the tallying began on April 9.
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