http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/07/15/experiencing-presidential-election-abroad.html
Berly Martawardaya , The Hague , The Netherlands | Wed, 07/15/2009 11:55 AM | Opinion
I was walking in the artistic surrounds of the diplomatic area in Jacob Catslaaan, where numerous embassies are located, after getting off from a short tram ride to The Hague train station when a middle-aged woman and a teenager approached us. The teenager asked in fluent Dutch whether we knew the direction to the Indonesian embassy.
At first, we thought they were one of the many Indonesian descendants in the Netherlands that had already gained local citizenship and wanted to apply for visa to visit their forefather's country. To our surprise, the teenager asked for directions to the Indonesian embassy as he wanted to vote. We immediately switched to talking in the Indonesian language and walked together toward Tobias Asserlaan, the location of the Indonesian embassy.
As we arrived, there was already a crowd gathered in front of the building. Most of them were Indonesian students studying in the Netherlands.
We were ushered gently toward a line where the embassy staff checked our passports and our fingers; any stains on our little fingers would have been a sign of voting a day earlier and would have disqualified us from voting a second time.
As is the norm when Indonesians meet in the same place, there was a lot of introductions and small chat. I was introduced to some embassy staff and met some old friends and made some new friends as well. It was an event that strengthened the solidarity of Indonesians abroad.
We queued to take our number and waited less than five minutes, as there were not too many people in the room, to get our election card and vote for the next president of Indonesia. Although the quick count from survey institutes already showed that one pair of candidates were leading the pack, it didn't diminish our sense of responsibility and excitement.
The time slot for Indonesians abroad to vote was the last hour of the election. In the case of the Netherlands, it was between 7-8 p.m. as many still had to go to school or work. Not long after my little finger was dipped in blue ink, the counting started. We took pictures with our stained little fingers as a memento.
The last minute decision by the Constitutional Court certainly broadened participation. There were many people like me that were registered in their respective hometowns in Indonesia, but could not get back to vote for many reasons; and were able to vote at the nearest embassy abroad. We just needed to show our passport and if the voting card was still available in the last hour of the election then we could vote.
This process was so logical that it should have always been part of voting policy. Why bother with the voter registration in the first place. The US is firm with registration requirements and they achieved around 60 percent of voting participation. Many countries make enrollment automatic unless stated otherwise. There is also the option of voting by letter that while might diminishing secrecy, is very convenient for people with scheduled activities on voting day.
One could argue that voting with ID cards or passports only would enable fraud and multiple voting. While there could be some way to dilute the ink on the little finger for Indonesian abroad, it would have been very costly to travel to another country just to vote twice.
The requirement to vote in the last hour of voting day is a practical arrangement to prevent that. It would have been easier to vote more than once in Indonesia, but if people are assigned to the nearest voting booth of their official address and the ink is made to be thicker and harder to wash off, then most troubles are avoided.
As I had just finished attending the meeting that agreed to establish the International Association of Indonesian Scientists (I4), where the high mobility of scientists and ties with Indonesian scientists in Indonesia is critical, it was very welcoming to know that no matter where we are, Indonesians are not deprived of their right to vote.
