Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – With legislative elections less than three months away, voters lack knowledge about the polls and may end up wasting their vote, a survey has found.
The poll, conducted by Indo Barometer in December, found that only half of respondents knew that legislative elections would take place in April 2009. "It is extremely dangerous and could spark anarchy," Indo Barometer Executive Director Mohammad Qodari said on Sunday.
Indo Barometer surveyed 1,200 citizens in 33 provinces, with a stated margin of error of 3 percent.
The survey further revealed that only 67 percent of respondents believed they had been properly registered on the final list of voters. "This is worrying as the number indicates a high possibility of a high voter absenteeism rate," Qodari said.
There are about 172 million voters registered with the General Elections Commission (KPU) for the legislative elections and turnout is expected to reach 70 percent. Poll absenteeism was recorded at 34 million in the 2004 election.
KPU Chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshari said he shared the concerns of Indo Barometer researchers. "We are still discussing how to update the voter list without sparking public uproar," he said.
Many voters living overseas have yet to be added to the list, including those in Malaysia, where over 500,000 Indonesian migrant workers are employed.
Hafiz, however claimed that this year's registration of voters ran far smoother than in 2004.
The survey also found that 60.8 percent of respondents did not know they now must tick a party's logo or a legislative candidate's name in order for their vote to be counted and that the established method of punching ballot papers remained far more popular.
Since the nation's first elections in 1955 voters have been requested to perforate ballot papers.
The polls body is seeking a government regulation-in-lieu-of-law that will allow double marks to minimize invalid votes.
Member of the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) Bambang Eka Cahyo Widodo, criticized the KPU for its poor effort to educate the public about election regulations.
"The KPU needs to run an effective campaign that will help people easily remember that the election day is April 9," he said.
The survey further found that about 40 percent of respondents did not believe the upcoming elections could improve the country's economic condition.