The threat to next week's voting day – Indonesia's 10th elections since independence – may not be so much the violence as the ignorance.

In the wake of April 9 we should not be surprised to see quarrels and brawls in several of electoral districts where more than 170 million people voted. The belated amendments to the political laws led to the subsequent rushed schedule to start up the General Elections Commission (KPU) and other poll bodies, the formulating of regulations and last-minute binding rulings from the Constitutional Court.

All these and many more issues reveal the lack of preparedness to engage in our gigantic exercise, and will understandably add to disappointment and resentment, particularly among the losing parties.

But the ignorance regarding mainly who we're going to vote for – the critical aspect in exercising our constitutional right – will be the main threat to the upcoming legislative elections since the authoritarian New Order regime ended.

Granted, it's only our third democratic elections. But when you're on the inside, not a long-term visionary outside observer, it is exasperating to imagine another five years of a bumbling democracy, whose only significant progress was perhaps to achieve a record number of arrested decision makers – legislators and officials.

That's why the voter could have hopes, however slim, of making a difference – if only they really knew the person to vote for, in this golden opportunity to select the best sons and daughters of the republic. It didn't take a genius to come up with the conclusion of the vast number of undecided voters, who are still in the dark after managing to figure out what will happen on April 9 and how to cast a valid vote.

But a survey released Wednesday suggested that most eligible voters were still in desperate need of vital information – more than 80 percent of 1,200 respondents questioned by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) said they wanted more information on candidacy requirements, on the political parties, and where and when to vote.

The report confirms fears that Indonesia has progressed far in terms of its democratic institutions, but substance is another question. Some of that substance could be filled in by the informed choice of citizens over who to choose from the available list of aspiring politicians.

But many only have the pictures of faceless faces in their minds – faceless because there are so many, unknown images battling for our attention as we pass the posters by. Apart from the veterans, we likely know the celebrities best, banking on their records in the entertainment industry, or also for being famous just for being famous.

And what about the other records? Unfortunately, not much. The media must share the blame for not exposing the unknowns, and the track records of this and that politician's son or daughter who is only banking on the famous parent's name.

Indonesians are known to be patient. But this virtue may be on a much shorter list given the crisis and its as yet unknown magnitude. In the week ahead, the diligent voter will hopefully be able to dig out enough information to decide on who they can rely on from all that clutter on the streets and the poor trees.