Thousands of students exercised their voting rights at nine special polling stations (TPS Loksus) of UGM situated in five student dormitories. Most of these voters were out-of-town students who couldn’t return home during the election period due to their studies in Yogyakarta.
Dr. Arie Sujito, the UGM Vice-Rector for Student Affairs, Community Service, and Alumni, highlighted UGM’s commitment to facilitating students in Yogyakarta who could not return home to exercise their voting rights.
This collaborative effort between UGM and 12 other universities in Yogyakarta, including Poltekesyo, STIKes panti Rapih, STPMD Jogjakarta, and STIM YKPN, among others, underscores UGM’s dedication to supporting the 2024 elections.
He emphasized that the voting process proceeded smoothly, with no significant incidents causing disruption, and adhered to the prescribed regulations.
“Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Board) and KPU (General Election Commission) are actively involved in supporting the election process at UGM’s special polling stations. So far, the voters align with the registered list,” he affirmed on Wednesday (Feb. 14).
“These special polling stations encompass students from 13 universities in Yogyakarta. The election outcomes are naturally diverse in terms of orientation and participation. We await the accumulation process for the final results.”
Regardless of the outcome, Dr. Sujito asserted that UGM, alongside student voters from 12 other universities who exercised their voting rights at these special polling stations, had effectively fulfilled their commitments and responsibilities in organizing this election.
Dr. Hempri Suyatna, the Secretary of the UGM Directorate of Student Affairs and the Coordinator of UGM’s TPS Loksus, added that 2,611 registered voters voted at UGM. Spread across five locations within UGM’s student dormitories, these nine special polling stations facilitated voting for various groups of students.
Nine special polling stations were located in five locations within UGM’s student dormitories. They include Asrama Ratnaningsih Kinanti 1, which is TPS 901 and 902 with a total of 589 voters, Asrama Ratnaningsih Kinanti 2 & 3, which are TPS 903 and TPS 904 with a total of 584 voters, Asrama Ratnaningsih Sendowo, which is TPS 922 and TPS 923 with a total of 509 voters, Asrama Darmaputera Santren, which is TPS 905 and TPS 906 with a total of 590 voters, and Asrama Darmaputera Karanggayam with a total of 280 voters.
Dr. Suyatna noted that the turnout of student voters at UGM’s special polling stations had not reached 100 percent due to the election coinciding with the semester break, resulting in many students being absent from Yogyakarta.
“The voter turnout at UGM’s special polling stations stands at 70% as not all students have returned to Yogyakarta,” he clarified.
Regarding the vote counting results from the nine special polling stations at UGM, candidate pair 01 (Anies-Muhaimin) garnered 56% of the votes, candidate pair 02 (Prabowo-Gibran) secured 23.2%, and candidate pair 03 (Ganjar-Mahfud) received 20%.
The voting process at UGM’s special polling stations involved 36 independent supervisors, 63 polling station working committee members from UGM students, and public order officers from Caturtunggal, Sleman.
Author: Ika
Photographer: Donnie