Luh De Suryani and Niken Prathivi, Denpasar – The Bali Women's Political Movement coalition will file a report on alleged election fraud targeting female candidates to the Bali Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) on Friday.
Coalition spokeswoman Ni Nyoman Sri Widhiyanti said the coalition would represent the female candidates by delivering the violations reports. The coalition comprises Bali Sruti, Bali's Indonesian Political Caucus for Women (KPPI), the Women Forum and gender equality activists.
"The report is an effort to ensure fair, clean and educational elections in Indonesia," Widhiyanti said, at the evaluation forum of "Let's Support Bali's Women Candidacy" movement held Thursday.
Head of Bali Sruti Luh Riniti Rahayu said several female candidates had identified signs of fraud during the April 9 elections and the subsequent ballot counting process.
Most fraud involved the deliberate deflation of the number of votes received by female candidates. "We have to combat such violations in order to strengthen women's self-esteem in entering politics."
Temporary results show as many as 30 female candidates succeeded in securing legislative seats. One of them is Ida Ayu Indra Kondi Santosa, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Kondi Santosa won a seat at the House of Representatives.
Despite her victory, Kondi Santosa claimed a significant number of her supporters' votes had been "stolen" during the ballot counting process.
"In Gianyar regency, the votes I received were deflated by 400 votes. in Karangasem, by 300 votes and in Badung, by 100 votes. "My supporters and I will closely monitor the vote counting to prevent further attempts to reduce my support," she stressed.
KPPI Bali secretary Titik Suharyati said the violations may have occurred because the Panwaslu failed to effectively monitor the counting process at village and district levels.
Separately, a PDI-P legislative candidate, Ida Bagus Alit Arganegara, who failed to secure a seat, took dozens of his supporters to the Badung Regional Elections Commission (KPUD) office to protest the ballot mix-up. He claimed the mix-up had cost him 28 votes.
"The 28 votes went to the party, instead of to the candidate. This really damaged Arganegara's constituents' right to vote for him," protester Ida Bagus Ketut Purbanegara said.
In response, Badung KPUD head I Wayan Jondra said the Badung KPUD would soon report the case to the Bali KPUD.