Ombudsman Asks KPU And Kemenkumham To Ensure Prisoners Can Vote

Ombudsman member Johanes Widijantoro. BETWEEN/HO-Ombudsman RI.

The Ombudsman asked the General Election Commission (KPU) and the Directorate General of Corrections at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) to ensure that all prisoners (WBP) get their rights in the 2024 general election (election).

Ombudsman member Johanes Widijantoro said that the submission of votes from the public in choosing pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates, and members of the legislature is a form of fulfillment of political civil rights from the community in accordance with Article 43 Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning human rights, including WBP in correctional institutions (Lapas) and state detention centers (Rutan).

"The problem with data transfer in the permanent voter list (DPT), additional voter lists (DPTb) and special voter lists (DPK) certainly needs to be evaluated in the future. Don't let the problem be because a citizen cannot exercise their voting rights," Johanes said in an official statement in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Based on data from the KPU submitted in an online meeting between the KPU, the Indonesian Ombudsman and the Directorate General (Ditjen) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on February 6, 2024, the total number of voters in the 2024 general election was 204.81 million people.

Of this number, he said, the Directorate General of Corrections conveyed that the estimated number of voters from WBP throughout Indonesia was 242,308 people, consisting of 139,705 actual DPT, 65,743 DPTb and 36,860 DPK candidates.

The WBP includes prisoners, correctional students, and correctional clients. According to Johanes, the number of inmates who go out and enter prisons every day certainly affects voter data that should get the right to vote in prisons.

In the discussion, he said, the Directorate General of Corrections said that there were several problems that factually occurred in several Correctional Technical Implementation Units (UPT), namely first, problems related to DPT which were initially registered at TPS specifically in prisons, but are currently free, resulting in changes in TPS.

The second problem is that there are inmates who have not been registered at special polling stations because they are registered at polling stations where they live. Third, WBP does not have an identity card (KTP), so several efforts to cooperate with the Population and Civil Registration Office (Disdukcapil) must be carried out.

Based on information from the KPU and the Directorate General of Corrections, Johanes said that the two parties had held a meeting to discuss voter services at prisons and detention centers on January 16, 2023.

However, he said, several problems regarding the number of DPTs that did not match factual data were due to WBP data that fluctuated in prisons and detention centers, and the number of ballots provided was only a number of DPT plus two percent as stipulated in Article 344 paragraph (2) of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning elections, potentially unable to meet the needs of the number of voters in prisons, especially in the DPK.

In addition, said Johanes, the number of DPT has been determined as stated in KPU Decree Number 857 of 2023 concerning the recapitulation of the national voter list remains at the national level in holding the 2024 general election.

Johanes said the limited availability of ballots in prisons and detention centers gave rise to the potential for WBPs who cannot exercise their voting rights because WBP cannot search for other polling stations that have remaining ballots, other than in prisons.

"The current regulations are certainly not enough to accommodate voter data at special polling stations such as prisons and detention centers. So in the future it is necessary to anticipate the problem of voter data at this special polling station," he said.