JAKARTA: Hundreds of Indonesian illegal migrant workers in Malaysia have refused to be listed as eligible voters for next year's legislative elections.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) said the workers feared deportation by Malaysian authorities if their whereabouts were uncovered.
"Of the 1.2 million eligible Indonesian voters in Malaysia, only 319,000 have been included on the preliminary voters list," KPU member Sri Nuryanti said here Thursday.
"The illegal migrant workers prefer not to cast their votes due to safety concerns."
The legislative elections law stipulates that only those on the final voters list are able to cast their ballots.
There are an estimated 1.6 million eligible voters living abroad, according to the KPU.
The body has called on the country's 171 embassies around the world to submit the names of eligible voters to Jakarta by Thursday. -- JP
