Hundreds of male residents flocked to the village’s Dalem Tanjung Sari temple to cast their vote. Dressed in traditional Balinese attire, most had arrived 30 minutes before the polls opened at 8 a.m.

Only Krama Ngarep (adult male members of fully-pledged households) have the right to vote. Membership of the island’s Desa Pekraman (customary village) is usually divided into Krama Ngarep, Krama Tamiu (members of non-native or non-Hindu households), and Krama Mlaga (members of native households that reside outside the village).

“This is the first time a customary village is holding an election for  chief using electronic methods,” election organizing committee head Nengah Ariyana said, adding that Jembrana regency had previously used the technology to elect the chiefs of administrative villages and heads of administrative hamlets.

Ariyana said the e-voting proved that the village was able to adapt to the new technology. Previously, the village chief would have been elected at a public meeting. Five years ago, villagers cast paper ballots to elect their chief.

“This is truly progress. Although not all residents are technology-savvy, they were still comfortable enough to use this procedure,” he added.

Ariyana said several villagers objected to the idea of e-voting when the election committee first presented it.

“The objections stimulated public discussions and eventually all villagers agreed to adopt the technology,” he said, adding that the e-voting system was low cost because they only needed to rent the touch screens and hire technicians and operators.

In the polling station, the election committee set up two booths, each equipped with a touch screen connected to the operator’s desk. Voters could also ask election committee officials to assist them.

The voting procedures were explained in posters in each booth, with the results updated every 10 minutes on a large screen set up in the polling station hall.

To avoid double voting, Ariyana said, operators put the touch screen on standby state, rendering it non-functioning, immediately after a voter had made their choice.

“The screen would display no data before the voter stepped into the booth and would return to that condition after the voter cast their vote, so there would be no chance for an individual to vote more than once.”

The election saw high voter turnout, with 234 voters, 77 percent of  the 302 registered voters, taking part.

The election was won by I Ketut Suweden with 166 votes. He beat out Wayan Sukada, Komang Suriadi and Wayan Kondra.

“It’s an honor for me to be elected in this first poll by e-voting,” he said.He said the success of the e-voting showed that the customary village, normally perceived as traditional and outdated, was very receptive to technological advances.

“We’re not opposed to technology as long as it doesn’t run counter to our customary rules,” Suweden said.

He will be inaugurated as the next village chief in a religious ceremony on the next full moon.

Denpasar Cultural Agency head Made Mudra said he was proud of the election, saying it exemplified the customary village’s ability to maintain tradition and at the same time embrace the values and technology offered by the modern world.

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