A Geek Dad’s Log

Voters mark their fingers after casting their ballot.

Empty polling station around 11 am.

Purple ink disappeared after 2 minutes of water and soap.

Results from four different survey agencies. Incumbent president in the middle with his new running mate.

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My wife overheard a conversation today that perhaps was said in a humorous tone but it could well be the reason why Yudhoyono, presidential candidate number two of three, won by a landslide.
 
About 60% of the national votes went to the Yudhoyono + Boediono pair and they won in 24 out of 33 provinces based on the quick count method.
 
The guy said, "number one, you open the ballot paper, number two, you mark it, number three, you fold it back."
 
I just sat there with my jaw on the floor.
 
 
Sent from my iPhone

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The fact that there are presidential and vice presidential debates for Indonesia's upcoming election is amazing. Each candidate is being made to show what they're worth, what they stand for, and how far. The problem is there are still clear signs of restraint from many sides and I'm not talking just about the candidates.
 
The moderator of last night's VP debate complained that he was being held by the rules of the debate from digging further into where each candidate stand. The whole thing was a joke. The debate did not happen at all, there was no VP debate, there was a Q&A session in which no counterpoint was made. Each candidate only had to answer the moderator's question, nothing more. No effort was made to argue a point made by other candidates.
 
What's funny was the aftermath. In the post Q&A session, both MetroTV and TV One held separate response sessions with representatives of each candidate. This was where the debate happened. Each rep defended to the death what their respective man was saying earlier. Nobody wanted to concede despite their candidates clearly diverting the questions on several occasions. It was more interesting watching the post-"debate" debate that the "debate" itself.

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Received a disturbing message today in my inbox but I need someone to verify this claim.
 
"Ketua DPW PKS DIY Ahmad Sumiyanto mengatakan SBY & Partai Demokrat sdh bersedia menandatangani kontrak politik yg berisi 10 Agenda Pembangunan yg disusun berdasarkan platform PKS.
 
Antara lain, menteri pendidikan, menteri kesehatan dan menteri pertanian hrs dari PKS. 40 PPL dept. pertanian yg org/kader PKS tdk boleh dikeluarkan/diganti.
 
UU syariah dan penyiaran agama hrs segera di undangkan, demikian juga UU halal dan haram, UU Kesehatan, dokter muslim tdk boleh memegang/ menangani pasien non muslim.. demikian sebaliknya. Demikian juga perda2 bernuansa syariah tdk boleh di cabut.
 
Segera realisasikan bantuan dari negara timteng qatar dgn jaminan gelora bung karno di gadaikan ke Qatar utk dpt pinjaman Rp. 25,9 triliun. (Sumber: Koran Kedaulatan Rakyat hal 3 edisi Sabtu 30 Mei 2009)."
 
If true, this will spell the absolute end of the illusion that Indonesia is a supposedly open-minded nation and throws away everything that put this country together including the constitution and Pancasila, the five pillars of the nation.
 
 
Sent from my iPhone

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Here we are, election day for the legislative seats.
 
So I voted. I've never seen ballot papers so large. There were three sets, one for the provincial parliament, one for the national parliament, and I don't know what the other one is for. All I know is those are some massive ballot papers.
 
41 political parties, hundreds of counties, 170 million registered voters. Logistics must have been a nightmare. Heard reports of dual registrations, non registrations, rejected voters, misregistrations of various kinds.
 
Doing this again in July for the presidential election. I think. If not, September.

       

Click here to download:

Election_Day_tag_election_legi.zip (446 KB)

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Today is the last day of the campaign for all political parties ahead of a three day quiet period before the legislative election on April 9.
 
On this last day, former General Wiranto's Hanura party will flock to Senayan just like former President Megawati's's PDIP yesterday and all other big political machines this past week. So I'm going to avoid Senayan as much as possible and advise you to do the same if you don't want to be caught in a traffic jam. Yesterday, the slow lanes of Sudirman literally became a parking lot as they were used to park the cars of people attending the event. All traffic was directed to the center lanes.
 
Now, I saw this banner ad by Hanura near Belleza arcade in Permata Hijau. It says, "Beware, do not lie to the people anymore!!"
 
Strangely enough, they designed the ad so that it resembles a cigarette pack, just look at the bottom. I've seen so many more ridiculous political banners but this one is intriguing. Is it a warning to the current government as the text on top implies or is it a warning to the people that, "Smoking can cause cancer, heart attack, impotency and pregnancy problems"?
 
A friend suggested someone should put a mirror in front of that ad. Hmmm… I wonder why? ;)

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