Voting a breeze for Indonesians in KL

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 20,000 Indonesian workers here, part of the larger group of 1.7 million working in Malaysia, have voted to select their next president.

They represented the most significant group of Indonesian overseas voters.

The voting took place on Feb 11 at booths set up by the Overseas Polling Station Working Committee at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL).

Yesterday, the ballots for the presidential election were counted at the same location and the process went smoothly.

Polling stations in Jakarta and throughout Indonesia opened at 7am local time yesterday and closed at 1pm, with vote-counting commencing immediately afterwards.

The spokesperson for the Overseas Election Committee in Kuala Lumpur, Puji Sumarsono, said the counting, which started at 3pm, was carried out without any issues at the material time.

“We are still in the process of counting the ballots and will only be able to provide the final tally once everything has been accounted for,” he said.

On guard: Cameras monitoring the polling centre at the WTCKL during the vote count for the Indonesian election. — Bernama

The WTCKL had 223 polling booths, each equipped with two ballot boxes: one for the presidential election and the other for the House of Representatives members.

Following an incident where a video showing allegedly marked ballot papers circulated before the polling day on Feb 11, Rizky Al Farizie, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s General Election Supervisory Agency, reported that the monitoring committee had issued six recommendations to the team overseeing balloting in Malaysia.

In response to these recommendations, Puji confirmed their receipt and the ongoing review to enhance the overseas voting process.

“We have received the recommendations and are carefully considering them before making any decisions,” he added.

The official election results are expected to be announced in about a month.

It was reported that Indonesians were Malaysia’s most extensive overseas workforce, mainly employed in the agricultural and construction sectors.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Datuk Hermono said the bilateral relations between Malaysia and Indonesia would remain robust regardless of the election outcome.

The strong foundation and mutual interests of the two nations would continue to foster enhanced cooperation, he added.

The presidential election features three candidates with their respective running mates.

They are Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the latter of whom is incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s son, and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.

Additionally, thousands of candidates are vying for the 580 seats in the national House of Representatives and approximately 20,000 regional seats.

Over 204 million individuals are eligible to vote for the country’s next president, vice-president, parliamentary lawmakers, and members of provincial legislative bodies.