JAKARTA. The General Elections Commission (KPU) has urged the government to speed up the issuance of electronic identity cards (e-KTPs) to make sure that 41.8 million potential voters possess e-KTPs in time for the simultaneous regional elections in February.

The KPU said 5 million voters still held regular ID cards, not e-KTPs.

In the elections, all voters must hold an e-KTP or residence certificate issued by the Civil Registry and Demography Agency. Without one of those documents, voters could be disenfranchised.

“We have to encourage the citizens to get e-KTPs. The government should also provide facilities to ease the processing of e-KTPs in every region,” KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay said at Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel, Bali, on Monday.

Citizens have reported several problems in getting e-KTPs. Last month, the Indonesian Consumer Foundation said it had received reports about a shortage of blank forms for the e-KTP. The shortage created a backlog in the system that prolonged the process by up to two to three months.

According to the Regional Elections law, the obligatory use of e-KTP in elections will start in 2019.(Callistasia Anggun Wijaya)

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie