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Record high turnout in Jakarta poll
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Blind voters in social shelter Bina Netra Cahaya Bathin show their inked fingers after casting their votes in a polling station in Cawang, East Jakarta on Feb. 15. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
V
oter turnout in the first round of the Jakarta gubernatorial election on Feb. 15 reached 77.1 percent of 7.2 million registered voters, according to the real vote count conducted by the General Elections Commission (KPU), which was completed on Friday night.
This is the highest voter turnout recorded in Jakarta since the capital first held direct gubernatorial elections in 2007. It is also the highest turnout in any election in the country since 2004.
KPU Jakarta chairman Sumarno said on Friday the high voter turnout was good for democracy. He said a number of factors had generated the high participation, including the massive media coverage of the election and the profiles of the candidates.
“Voters liked the candidates. Only 23 percent did not cast votes, which is still good,” Sumarno told reporters in Jakarta.
Voter participation in the capital had shown a declining trend in previous elections. During the 2007 race, voter turnout only reached 66 percent, worrying observers that the quality of democracy was eroding in the city.
Voter turnout decreased to 65 percent in the first round of the 2012 gubernatorial election and then climbed slightly to 68 percent in the runoff election, which saw now-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo emerge victorious.
KPU Jakarta commissioner Dahlia Umar predicted the second round of this year’s gubernatorial race would record an even higher turnout than the first round. She promised the commission would improve services to ensure that those who could not vote in the first round due to technical glitches would be able to vote in the second round.
The election on Wednesday changed many politically apathetic Jakartans, said Adi Prayitno, a political observer at the Islamic State University Syarif Hidayatullah.
Many of the voters used to be people who stayed away from politics. In this election, however, voters shifted and became enthusiastic about the democratic process, he added.
“This is because of the magnitude of the candidates,” Adi told The Jakarta Post.
According to Adi’s observations, several ethnic groups who were apolitical in the past suddenly became aware of politics.
The Post previously reported that some Jakartans staying abroad had intentionally returned to vote and those who had planned to travel canceled their plans in order to vote.
He said more people turning up at polling stations to cast a vote, regardless of motivation, indicated a healthy democracy. “And there was no significant conflict on the day,” he said.
Masykurudin Hafidz, the national coordinator of the People’s Voter Education Network (JPPR), an NGO that educates voters on the importance of elections, echoed Adi’s opinion.
“The majority of voters voted because they are rational. They voted on the programs offered by the candidates. Sectarianism did not really matter,” he told the Post.
Masykurudin said sectarianism had, to some extent, contributed to the increase in voter participation this year, but it was not a significant factor.
During the campaign period from late October last year to early this month, the Jakarta election was marred by sectarianism, especially after Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and a Chinese-Indonesian, was accused of blasphemy.
Jakarta’s voter turnout was slightly above the 77 percent national voter participation target set by the KPU for all 101 regional elections.
The real vote count in many regions is still ongoing, but some regions are showing a lower voter turnout than the KPU target.
