Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice Presidential candidate number 01 Ma'ruf Amin rubbished rumors on the General Elections Commission (KPU) having an overseas computer server to manipulate the ballot counting process, calling it a nefarious attempt to delegitimize the body.

Addressing journalists prior to departing for Bogor City, West Java, for an open campaign on Friday, Amin affirmed that some societal elements might be looking to make a scapegoat of the KPU by spreading false news of the presence of an overseas computer server.

Thus, in the event of their camp tasting defeat in the upcoming presidential race, they could make the anti-graft body a scapegoat by leveling accusations of it failing to uphold the principle of impartiality in convening the presidential elections, scheduled on Apr 17, he pointed out.

Gauging the wide-ranging repercussions of these rumors that the KPU vehemently denies, Amin has lent his support to a decision to send the perpetrators behind the creation and spread of false news through a video grab that went viral to the police for further interrogation.

"We have full confidence in the KPU's neutrality," incumbent President Joko Widodo's running mate facing off the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair for the 2019 presidential race stated.

The KPU has lambasted the allegations, stating "there is no KPU server overseas."

"All computer servers are in the country. Hence, the accusation that the KPU will count votes through the IT system is untrue," Hasyim Asy'ari, a KPU commissioner, remarked in a text message received by ANTARA on Thursday.

A manual counting will be done at the respective polling stations and the outcomes maintained in C1 Forms that will then be collected and counted at the sub-district-, district-, and provincial-level as well as ultimately on a nationwide scale.

"Hence, essentially, the public, witnesses, polling station supervisors, local residents, and observers are already kept in the loop about the outcomes of the ballot counting process. All are permitted to document the outcomes in C1-Plano forms," he explained.

"The KPU is aggrieved by the baseless accusations in the video and will report it to the National Police Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim)," he stated in response to a viral video alleging the antigraft body of tampering with the ballot counting outcomes through IT.

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Translator: Rangga, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
Copyright © ANTARA 2019