The discovery in Malaysia of 40,000-50,000 ballot papers found stuffed inside 20 diplomatic bags and marked in favour of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and one of his electoral allies has cast a shadow across next week’s general election in Indonesia.
The Kuala Lumpur Elections Supervisory Committee said on Thursday the ballots were found in two locations in Malaysia and were marked in favour of both Widodo and a candidate for the NasDem party, which is aligned to the president.
Indonesia heads to the polls for presidential and legislative elections on April 17, but overseas voting takes place on Sunday.
Any allegations of vote stuffing could potentially dent the president’s standing, and how much of an effect the incident will have on his re-election prospects will depend on whether further cases emerge in the next few days.
Malaysia is thought to host more than 980,000 overseas Indonesian voters, more than any other country.
Yaza Azzahara Ulyana, head of the Kuala Lumpur Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), said he had acted on a complaint lodged by a campaign team member of the opposition candidate Prabowo Subianto.
One set of the ballots was found in the vicinity of Taman University in Kajang, Selangor state. A second set was discovered in a house in Bandar Baru Bangi, about 15 minutes’ walk from the first location.
Ulyana said six officers from the Royal Malaysian Police had interview several eyewitnesses at the site.
He said his committee had lodged a police report of a possible violation of Indonesia’s election process.
The latest surveys show Widodo’s once commanding lead over his rival Prabowo has been narrowing.
A survey taken between February 22 and March 5 by Litbang Kompas projected Widodo was likely to win 49.2 per cent of the vote versus Prabowo’s 37.4 per cent.
Arya Fernandes, a researcher with the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said he did not think it would have “such a big effect for the presidential elections”.
“Maybe the effect will be on the institutions [organising the elections] in terms of their professionalism. I think this is a test for the Election Commission to ensure the electoral process is carried out democratically and honestly. The effect on the presidential candidates will not be big.
“For now I do not think there is much impact on [Widodo].”
