National, Permanent, Independent GENERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

THE HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION OF KPU (After 2007 ) KPU is hierarcical according to Law 22/2007, and Its organization consists of : KPU-RI at Natinal Level Provincial KPU’s Regency/City KPU’s District Election Committees (PPK) : Ad hoc Overseas Election Committees (PPLN): Ad hoc Balloting Committees (PPS): Ad hoc Balloting Working Unit (KPPS): Ad hoc Overseas Balloting Working Unit (KPPSLN): Ad hoc

KPU STANDS FOR NATIONAL, PERMANENT AND INDEPENDENT BODY KPU is a national, permanent, and independent body assigned to conduct the 2009 Legislative and Presidencial Elections and all local (governors as well as mayors) elections.

“National” here means that KPU is an Electoral Commission for the whole territory of The Republic of Indonesia. “Permanent” means that KPU-RI, Provincial KPU, and Regency/City KPU, as an institution, perform their duties on a continuous base, even though the members are limited for a certain working period. “Independent” means that in conducting the Election, KPU acts independently and free of influences from any sides. KPU performs its duties based on prevailing laws, and periodically reports on implementing of its duties to the President and the People’s Representatives Council (DPR).

CHALLENGES IN MANAGEMENT OF ELECTORAL ROLLS An Overview = The basic Laws of the 2009 Election are: The 1945 Constitution, article 22 E on general elections, which constitutionally stipulates the elections of members of DPR (national parliament), DPD (Nat. House of Prov.Representatives) DPRD (local parliament) and of President and Vice President to be conducted in a direct, general, free and confidential, honest and fair manner; once every 5 years; conducted by a national, permanent, and independent KPU. Law Num.22/2007 on Election Organizer; Law Num. 10/2008 on Legislative Election; Law Num. 02/2008 on Political Party

= National Legislative Election 2009 begins with delivery of population datas from MOHA (domestic) and MOFA (overseas) to KPU-RI that consist of potential voters lists (called DP-4) and population aggregate lists at district level (domestic, called DAKK) and at country level (abroad, called Overseas voters). This delivery should be done one year before election d-day. = Total population: = Total voters in Temporary Electoral Rolls (based on DP-4): (including overseas: ) = Total voters in Fixed Electoral Rolls: (overseas: ).

= Total Provinces: 33 = Total Regencies/Cities: 471 = Total District Election Committees : (5 members with 3 staffs) = Total Balloting Committees: (3 members and 2 staf = Total Balloting Working Unit/Ballot Station: (7 members, no staf) = Total Inhabited Islands: out of (Sept. 2009) = Approx Total Ballot Paper: 850 millions expl. (including Presidentian Election) = Approx Total Cost: RP. 19,5 Trillion

Processes of Updating Voters Data: # Temporary Election Rolls should be established by Regency/City KPU on ballot station bases, within 3 months after receiving DP-4 and DAKK. # TER should be announced to the public at the date established to get responses from every individual citizen who is eligible to vote within 1 month. # Within that period of 1 month, one special temporary staf should be appointed at every ballot station (consits of max. 600 voters) to check TER accuracy; notify any objection or complaint from the public; and deliver the report to Balloting Committee which in turn rearrange the TER (if needed) and deliver the new TER to District Election Committee

# Within 7 days, Regency/City KPU should recapitulate the new total number of voters based on the recapitulation report delivered by District Elect. Committee, and announce the first revised TER within its own territory to get more responses from the public. City KPU should rearrange new TER after receiving any response and announce the second revised TER within a next period of 7 days. # After that period of 14 days of checking and rechecking, Regency/City KPU should announce a Fixed Electoral Rolls (FER) to the public within its own territory and also deliver FER to Provincial KPU which in turn deliver to KPU-RI the recapitulated number of voters covered by all FER from the cities within a certain province. # KPU-RI announce once, a National FER on the bases of recapitulated FER from provincial KPUs.

Challanges in Managing Electoral Roll * There is no guarantee for the accuracy of data source delivered by MOHA and MOFA (espc. DP-4) since the project of establishing single identity number is still going on and will be finished in The majority of recidency/city goverments is still using types of identity administration that are different each other. That enables somebody to have more than one identity number. * Having double or even triple identity number is strongly possible since the law of owning property requires that anybody who want to have a land sertificate in a particular location should be registered as resident in that location. This is due to the process of governmental decentralisation in which local taxation is being important source of local revenues

* The time allowed by the Law no 10/2008 to establish and update TER to be FER is truly limited due to field obstackles and administrative constraints. Updating voters data is one out of ten stages of election process that should be conducted within the time limit allowed for every stage in one year period. * Political motivation of individual citizens to check TER and propose its rearrangement in the absence of their names is low. Optimum active participation expected from political stakeholders such as political parties, pressure groups and NGOs to elevate the quality of TER is far from being realized.

* The span of control of temporary staffs appointed to update TER at ballot station bases is quite large so that they do their works without proper supervision and surveillance to assure the quality of voters data. * The establishment of FER does not start on the bases of the previous election database, but on the bases of DP-4 delivered by the government. Sustainable and continuous updating of voters data by KPU cannot be conducted unless the Election Law provides KPU with legal bases of such action.

FACING THE CHALLENGES To cope with the challenges mentioned earlier KPU maintains some steps During the establishment of TER, KPU uses DP-4 as TER main source. However, KPU also uses other source of voters data as a second reference. Since many provinces and cities have conducted local elections, the voters data used in those elections can be utilized as a comparative data source for Ensuring that voters should be registered at local, village bases, and be recognized by village leader. Identity card is used for referencial only.

@ Ensuring that letter of invitation to vote in ballot station is given by Balloting Working Unit under suvervision of Village leader only to those who are eligible to vote at their own Time constraint in updating voters data is resolved through the usage of special application tools (called DPTools) for recognizing unusual data such as identity duplication or under age. But this step is effective only for urban Since the unregistered citizens in FER is one of the big political issues viewed from perspective of political human rights, it is needed that voters data can be updated on regular bases in a sustainable manner. Unfortunately, this issue remains unresolvable.

Abdul Aziz Ahmad Commissioner