The runoff election between incumbents Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat versus rivals Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno presents a silver lining for citizens of Jakarta: a day off on Election Day.
Acting Governor Soni Sumarsono today confirmed that Jakartans will get Wednesday, April 19 off so that they can go to the polls that day.
“I implore the citizens, even though it’s an off day, don’t take advantage of it to go on holiday,” Soni said, as quoted by Liputan 6 today.
Soni may have a point, considering that many Jakartans have gone on short holidays to places like nearby resort town Puncak or the city of Bandung whenever there’s been an election in the past.
However, many Jakartans seem to think there is a lot at stake in this particular election, considering that the first round of the election on February 15 saw a regional record turnout of 77.1 percent of 7.2 million registered voters.
The General Election Commission (KPU) today announced that the number of voters registered for the runoff election on April 19 is also 7.2 million.
While the day off on April 19 is all but certain, Soni said that he is still waiting on an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs to make it official. Furthermore, he said those who aren’t registered to vote in Jakarta but reside in the city can also take the day off on April 19.
