When you, the politically conscious loyal local readers of Coconuts Jakarta, take part in deciding Jakarta’s future by participating in Wednesday’s gubernatorial election, be prepared to part with your trusty cellphones when you enter the voting booth.
Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD DKI Jakarta) Chairman Sumarno recently issued a reminder that cellphones, or any other image recording devices, are prohibited inside voting booths in order to preserve the integrity of the election process.
“It’s forbidden to bring in a camera or a camera phone inside the voting booth to take photos of their vote or to take selfies. This could allow ‘wani piro’,” Sumarno said, as quoted by Metro TV.
“Wani piro” is a Javanese term that translates to “how much are you willing to pay?”, which, in Sumarno’s context, alludes to voters potentially using photographic proof that they had voted for a certain candidate in order to be rewarded money by said candidate later on.
“There will be officers who will prepare cellphone storage spaces. After voting, [voters] can retrieve their cellphones,” Sumarsono added.
The possibility of a votes-for-cash scheme using cellphones may be a legitimate worry in Jakarta. Previously, incumbent vice governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat pleaded to KPU DKI Jakarta to ban cellphones inside voting booths to prevent what he described as “money politics.”
