The East Kalimantan General Election Commission (KPUD) says it needs Rp 108 billion to finance the second round of the gubernatorial election later this year.

KPUD spokesman Hamrun said the money would be spent on logistics, transportation and salaries for support staff in the province's 13 regencies and municipalities.

He said the proposal would be sent to the provincial administration for approval.

The amount requested is less than the Rp 190 billion spent by the KPUD in organizing the first round of voting on May 26. The KPUD will have to print ballots for more than 2.25 million eligible voters and pay the salaries of nearly 1,400 ad hoc election committee members and security guards in more than 6,500 polling stations across the province.

The second round of voting is required because none of the candidates managed to secure 30 percent of votes in the first round. Under the revised 2008 provincial election law, a minimum of 30 percent of votes is needed to prevent a second round of voting. Only the top two candidates from the first round can proceed to the second round.

Awang Faroek Ishak and his running mate Farid Wadjdy were favorites to win the election, but garnered only 28.9 percent of votes (426,325 votes). They were followed by Achmad Amins and his running mate Hadi Mulyadi, with 26.90 percent (396,229 votes).

Awang and Faroek are backed by a coalition of 14 parties, including the National Mandate Party and the United Development Party, while Achmad and Hadi are supported by a coalition of six parties, including the Prosperous Justice Party.

Elviyani N.H. Gaffar, the head of the KPUD's vote collection and counting division, said all candidates would have three days to respond to the official results of the vote counting, which were announced Monday. She added all issues relating to the first round of voting had to be settled by July 1.

"The KPUD will start preparing the second round on July 2, and we will need 76 days to make all the necessary preparations. The balloting day may be at the end of August or in early September. This date will be decided later," she said.

The chairman of Achmad's campaign team said the backing coalition was in the midst of reviewing a strategy to win the second round. He said this included drawing support from parties whose candidates had failed to get enough votes to contest the second round of voting.

In Jakarta, the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) called on the KPUD to carry out the second round in strict accordance with the newly revised law.

The previous law did not require the reigning governor to step down when contending elections, but under the revised law, incumbents are obliged to step down.

However, the current governor was not required to step down because he registered his candidacy in March, several weeks before the law was revised.