Indonesia election: Jayapura residents cast late ballots

Jakarta (VNA) – At least 160,000 residents in Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua, would vote in the general election on April 18 following several logistical glitches on the general election day.

People in Abepura and South Jayapura districts had to delay their voting rights after polling stations in the area encountered problems like shortage of ballots or no ballots being delivered at all.

Indonesia’s election commission (KPU) said that all voting in the cases was seen as invalid, and locals had to go to polling stations once again on April 18 to vote.

Papua General Elections Commission (KPU Papua) head Theodorus Kossay said that the commission did not have enough time to send the ballots to hundreds of polling stations on April 17. The Elections Supervisory Agency recommended the election be postponed until April 18 from 7:00 to 13:00.

Data from KPU Papua showed that there were 744 polling stations in Abepura and South Jayapura, with 88,425 registered voters in Abepura and 72,044 registered voters in South Jayapura.

Indonesia opened the polls to more than 192 million eligible voters on April 17 in one of the world's biggest single-day elections. For the first time, Indonesia held its presidential and legislative elections on the same day, with more than 245,000 candidates running for more than 20,000 seats.

The election takes place in the context of the country sustaining 5-percent economic growth in half a decade and facing big challenges, including stagnant economic development and increasing gaps between the rich and the poor as well as between localities.

Initial results showed that Incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo is leading the the presidential election held on April 17 by 10 percent over his rival Prabowo Subianto. - VNA