KUALA LUMPUR – Indonesia’s election authorities will investigate claims of fraudulent ballot papers for its citizens voting in Malaysia ahead of polling for the republic’s general election on February 14.
The Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) is sending a team here to investigate a video showing piles of ballot papers marked by a few people, instead of individual voters, Antara reports.
KPU has not verified the video that was shared on social media, which also shows the ballots being marked in favour of a particular president and vice-president pairing.
The elections body is to check on the authenticity of the video and alleged ballot papers, Antara said, quoting commission member Idham Holik.
The Jakarta Post has also reported a complaint filed by an Indonesian non-governmental organisation based in Johor Bahru, Migrant Care, of alleged duplication of Indonesian overseas voters’ names.
Some 3,200 names are allegedly duplicated in a list of overseas voters registered in Johor Bahru, and a list for New York.
Indonesia’s General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) is investigating the matter, its commissioner Lolly Suhenty was quoted saying.
Migrant Care had reportedly filed its complaint with Bawaslu last week, saying it found the duplicate names in a list of 119,000 Indonesian overseas voters registered in Johor Bahru. The duplicates had the same address and age.
Indonesia will hold the world’s largest election in a single day to choose a new president and vice-president, as well as lawmakers for the national parliament, provincial and regency levels. They will also elect regional senators to advise the national parliament.
Three pairs are named on the ballot paper for president and vice-president: Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.
Campaigning started on November 28 and will last until Saturday, followed by a “quiet period” before balloting on February 14.
Voting in Malaysia was facilitated by the distribution of 156,000 absentee ballot papers to eligible voters last month, but so far only 80,000 have been returned.
The Jakarta Globe reported Indonesian authorities expressing concerns over the untraceable absentee ballots. – February 8, 2024