KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of Indonesians are expected to converge on the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Centre (PWTC) today to cast their early votes for the Indonesian presidential election.
Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Hermono said that to date, there are 223,000 Indonesians who are registered for early voting for the presidential election.
However, he said they are expecting around 45,000 Indonesians to exercise their right to vote.
He said another 156,397 Indonesians will be given postal votes which can be mailed starting last night.
"Registered voters including those from Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Selangor are encouraged to take part in early voting today.
"This is the first time that early voting is being carried out in WTC compared to the last time where it was done at the embassy and the Indonesian school here," he told Berita Harian.
Indonesia began the selection process for a new president this year on Nov 28 last year with three candidates vying to become the country's next leader on Feb 14.
The selection for Indonesia's next president involves former army general Prabowo Subianto, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo and the former governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan.
Outgoing President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, is not contesting as he has already served two terms as the country's leader.
At the same time, said Hermono, the selection of WTC was made by the Election Commission so that the voting process can be carried out in one place to make it easier and convenient as well as better in terms of monitoring.
He said that four halls are being used for the voting process, with a total of 1,561 election commission officers who will be on duty at WTC.
"There are 400 registration tables provided throughout the day so that the process is quicker and can be completed early or faster.
"The voting process starts at 8am until the end of registration at 5pm," he said.
Hermono said they are hoping all the Indonesian voters here will be able to fulfill their responsibility in helping to choose the new leadership for the country.
He said there were high hopes that the voting process runs smoothly without any issues, hitches or glitches.
"Make this selection process a democracy party or fiesta... the role of voters here (is significant as they) represent the biggest number of voters outside Indonesia," he said.
Hermono added that for postal voting, they expect about 70 per cent of the 156,397 ballot papers to be returned because voters would have already moved to another address.