Election day brings out best,
worst in Jakartans

Prima and her family had plans for Wednesday. Among
the first to arrive at the polling station near her house in Kalibata, South Jakarta, she and her cousins visited
their long-time-no-see uncle in Slipi, West Jakarta,
after casting their ballots.
"If it wasn't election day, would you still come to visit me?"
the uncle said.
The hectic pace of daily life in the capital can make it
difficult to stay in touch with friends and even family.
Making the most of the holiday -- declared by the central
government as a possible solution to low turnouts on voting day -- many workers and students left town. Shopping centers in the city remained closed until noon.
"It's like Lebaran (Islamic holiday) has come early this year," Prima said.
Lebaran falls in mid-October this year. About 70 percent of registered voters turned out at polling stations Wednesday, despite a number of surveys held earlier this week that suggested 65 percent of eligible voters would stay away.
 Eka Alam, 42, was eager to vote. He had a voter ID card but could not use it. Late last month, he fell from his motorcycle in a traffic accident and suffered a brain hemorrhage.
When poll officials arrived at his room in Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital with a ballot box, the nurse said Eka probably could not vote because, even though he remained conscious, he could not move his hands or open his eyes.
Ismu, the committee head, asked Eka's wife Paulin to help him out. The nurse pulled the curtain closed so the mother of three could cast the ballot.
"I have my own voter card, but I won't use it because my husband needs me here. I am registered at the polling station in Mampang (South Jakarta). But at least my husband voted," she said.
Another patient in the hospital, Firman from Klender, East Jakarta, did not have his voter ID with him. "My family said they received it but forgot to bring it today," he said.
Like Paulin who was eager to vote "so we can have a new
governor who will bring improvements to our lives," others also wanted to exercise their right to vote for reasons other than enjoying the rest of the holiday.
 In local politics there is an expression serangan fajar (dawn
attack), meaning coerced voting. People are threatened with loss of pay, work or even sleep if they do not vote as instructed.
Tri, a resident of Cijantung, East Jakarta, said Adang Daradjatun had secured the most votes in her neighborhood.
"We got a late phone call, it was at about 12 a.m. yesterday, reminding us that all of the police's 'big family' had to vote for Adang," the wife of a policeman said. She did not name the caller.
Adang resigned from his post as the deputy chief of the National Police to run in the election.
                                                                             -- JP

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