REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- General Election Commission (KPU) will be accelerated the voting schedule of legislative election abroad. It will be conducted 10 days faster and its time will be longer than before.
"Voting abroad will be conducted in March 30 to April 6, 2014. These days are set as proposed by Election Committee of Foreign Affairs (PPLN)," KPU Commissioner, Hadar Nafis Gumay said on Wednesday.
The vooting will take place from 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM in local time. It means that Indonesian voters abroad have time for 10 hours to give their voting rights. It is also longer than domestic voting, which is decided from 08:00 AM to 01.00 PM in local time.
Gumay said that voting for legislative election abroad would be deliberately held before voting in the country on April 9, 2014. The reason, Indonesian citizens abroad have limited time, especially for those who work. April 9 falls on Wednesday, which is a working day. To increase the participation of voters abroad, legislative election time is expected to be held on holidays.
Election Law also gives space for implementation of voting abroad before domestic voting. In Article 4, Paragraph 2, the voting abroad can be implemented before or same to domestic voting. However, this plan is refused by representatives of Democratic Party, Andi Nurpati.