76 Thousand Indonesian Citizens In Hong Kong And Macau Salurkan Suara Through TPS-Pos

76,481 Indonesian citizens in Hong Kong and Macau have exercised their voting rights (photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Hong Kong and Macau Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) reported that 76,481 Indonesian citizens in Hong Kong and Macau had exercised their voting rights in the 2024 General Election by attending directly at polling stations or by post.

Chairman of the Hong Kong and Macau Overseas Election Committee (PPLN), Agustinus Guntoro, said the enthusiasm of Indonesian citizens (WNI) in the 2024 General Election was high. This is thanks to the cooperation between PPLN Hong Kong and Macau to the General Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu).

"With close cooperation between PPLN Hong Kong and Macau, Panwaslu, and other related parties, voting at TPS went smoothly," Agustinus said as quoted by Antara, Wednesday.

Agustinus noted that there was an increase of around 64.5 percent of the number of voters in the 2019 Election which was recorded as 46,491 people.

Meanwhile, 753 voters made direct voting at four polling stations centered at the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong, Tuesday (13/2). That number is only 31.5 percent of the total 2,390 registered voters.

The receipt of ballots by post will continue until February 15, 2024. To this day, it has recorded 75,728 ballots that have been received back by PPLN Hong Kong and Macau.

According to Agustinus, the elections in Hong Kong and Macau this time were held differently than before. This year, the Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau governments only gave permission to hold elections at the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong.

Even though the capacity, facilities, and infrastructure available at the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong is very limited, so it cannot accommodate a large number of election participants.

This is in line with the assessment carried out by the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Indonesian National Police before the activity.

With these considerations, Agustinus explained, on December 28, 2023, the Indonesian KPU decided to change the allocation of the election method in Hong Kong, from 31 polling stations with 76,174 voters and nine Pos Groups with 88,517 voters to four polling stations with 2,390 voters and 36 posts with 162,301 voters.

"All compositions of Indonesian voters, both those who express their voting rights directly at polling stations and through posts, are decided by the Indonesian KPU," he explained.

With a total of 164,691 Indonesian citizens registered in the DPT, Hong Kong and Macau are the third largest regions for the 2024 General Election abroad.

To ensure the fulfillment of the voting rights of Indonesians in Hong Kong and Macau, PPLN has carried out intensive and comprehensive socialization of regulations in force in the 2024 General Election, including through routine interactive dialogue on social media and cooperation with community nodes in Hong Kong and Macau to ensure dissemination of information.

According to the legislation, the vote count for voters will be held on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at 14.15 local time. Then the vote count through the post will be held starting Friday, February 16, 2024, at 09.00 local time.