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VOTING IN FIRST ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
PROCEEDS SMOOTHLY AND SAFELY,
BUT HIGH RATE OF INVALID VOTES AT SOME POLLING STATIONS
Jakarta, 6 July 2004 Voting in the first round of Indonesia�s first ever direct presidential election on Monday proceeded freely, smoothly and safely, according to reports from 4,010 LP3ES-NDI election monitors. Despite high rates of invalid ballots at some polling stations, the average rate of invalid ballots at monitored polling stations was only 9.1%. According to these monitors, election officials at 97.1% of polling stations checked and showed ballots and ballot boxes openly to the voting public. In addition, monitors reported acts of intimidation toward voters in only 2.9% of polling stations and toward polling station officials in only 1.6% of polling stations. Furthermore, at only 1.5% of polling stations were voters who had already voted elsewhere (i.e., had ink on their fingers) found to be voting again. Regarding the vote counting process, LP3ES-NDI monitors reported that at 94.6% of polling stations the count proceeded transparently � i.e., it could be observed clearly by candidates� agents, monitors and the public. The complete results of the monitoring by LP3ES-NDI can be seen in the following table. Results of Monitoring Balloting and Counting at Polling Stations
The overall evaluation by LP3ES-NDI monitors concludes that the balloting and counting process proceeded properly and smoothly at 99.2% of monitored polling stations. This figure is derived from 62.7% of monitors who stated that they strongly agreed that there were no observed or proven irregularities in the balloting and counting process at the observed polling station. An additional 36.5% of monitors stated that they agreed that the electoral process at their polling station proceeded freely and fairly, because despite several irregularities it was not possible to say the election was not free and fair. These reports are the result of monitoring by LP3ES-NDI volunteers in 2,005 villages and urban neighborhoods chosen randomly from all provinces. The margin of error is plus or minus one percentage point at a 95% confidence level. The number of voters at the monitored polling stations is 540,521. Voter Turnout This monitoring effort also indicates the level of voter turnout as 82%, only slightly lower than turnout for the legislative elections last April (84.07%). Invalid Votes Regarding the many reports of invalid votes due to improper balloting, LP3ES-NDI volunteers report finding high rates of invalid votes at some polling stations. More than 50 invalid votes per polling station (each polling station had a maximum of 300 voters) were found at 16.4% of the monitored polling stations. Nonetheless, the total rate of invalid votes at all monitored polling stations was 9.1%. This rate is only slightly higher than the rate of invalid votes in the legislative elections on April 5 (8.81%). For further information, please contact: Tatak Prapti Ujiyati Researcher, LP3ES Jl. S. Parman No. 81, Jakarta Tel: 62-21-567-4211, Mobile: 62-812-924-9394 [email protected] ******************************* FINAL QUICK COUNT RESULTS
VOTE PROJECTIONS Table: Projected Vote, President and Vice President, July 5, 2004
* Data as of 14:00 West Indonesia Time, 6 July 2004 (1,719 polling stations) For further information, please contact: Muhammad Husain Program Manager, Quick Count, LP3ES Jl. S. Parman No. 81 Jakarta Tel: 62-21-567-4211, Mobile: 62-812-924-9394 [email protected] |