KUALA LUMPUR – The Overseas Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu LN) in Kuala Lumpur is currently investigating and gathering evidence regarding the alleged early marking of ballot papers received by Indonesian registered voters in the country, particularly on the alleged markings for the Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD duo on the ballot papers.
The duo are candidates for the Indonesian president and vice president and are listed third on the ballot paper.
Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar pair are listed first, followed by the Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka duo.
Panwaslu-LN head in Kuala Lumpur, Rizky Al Farizie, when contacted by Scoop, said that the issue under scrutiny involves postal ballot papers for the general election in the Kuala Lumpur area.
“Of course, we are currently in the process of gathering information and evidence from the parties involved in the postal voting process,” he said.
He added that the 2024 election will be conducted via three methods: postal voting, mobile ballot boxes, and polling centres outside the state (TPSLN).
“We have supervisors in Kuala Lumpur as well as in several states, including Putrajaya, Selangor, Perak, Kelantan, and Terengganu,” he said.
Earlier, the Antara news agency reported that the Indonesian General Election Commission (KPU) would dispatch a team to investigate ballot papers that had been marked earlier in Malaysia.
It was reported that the campaign team for presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and running mate Gibran Rakabuming claimed to have received “reliable information” that included photos and videos of people tampering with thousands of ballot papers in Malaysia.
One of the videos, which circulated on social media, showed people poking nails through the photo of Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD on the ballot.
Following this, the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) said it would send a team to investigate the alleged ballot tampering in Malaysia.
The Kuala Lumpur Overseas Election Committee had also coordinated with Panwaslu LN regarding the matter.
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.
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.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia, Datuk Hermono, said that matters pertaining to elections fall under the purview of the KPU and are not within the jurisdiction of the embassy.
He said that the alleged fraud related to the ballot papers is now under investigation by KPU and Panwaslu KL. – February 10, 2024