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Vote and be counted
Today, if you decide to go to polling stations and cast your vote, you will help solve the collective problem of apathy that has plagued democracies everywhere.
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Officials sort and fold ballots for 2019 elections at a General Elections Committee (KPU) warehouse at STT Mandala University in Bandung, West Java, on April 1. At least 1.7 ballots for the city of Bandung are sorted here. The sorting was done in one day to prevent delays in the materials’ distribution by District Election Committees (PPK). Antara/Novrian Arbi (Antara/Novrian Arbi)
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fter five cycles of general elections, voters in this country could easily take the current political tradition for granted. Indeed, voters might even become skeptical about the process. For those who have always wanted a quick turnaround in Indonesia’s economy, progress has not come fast enough in the past 20 years, with the economy growing on average by 5 percent annually. Poverty figures may have been reduced, but poverty remains a fact of life. For those who wish to rid the country of corruption, the biggest letdown has been that not only have more officials been convicted of graft, a large number of those indicted have been politicians elected through the democratic process.
Even when the electoral process has yielded the desired result — a competent government that could get the job done — it has mostly functioned to address our prosaic day-to-day concerns like health care, food distribution and affordable education. Only when things go south do we appreciate the pivotal role that elections play in our political system.
Only 57.9 percent of eligible voters voted in the November 2016 United States election, down from 58.6 percent in 2012 and from 61.6 percent in 2008. In the United Kingdom during the Brexit referendum only 36 percent of people between 18 and 24 years old cast their ballots, against 83 percent of people above 65 who voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union. Those who stayed home during the US election have certainly rued the day since Donald Trump took the oath of office, and they must wish they could turn back the clock and cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton. If only more young British voters had showed up at the Brexit referendum, they could have prevented older folks from deciding the UK’s fate for decades to come.
So, contrary to the advice from those urging voters to stay at home, votes do count in the end. Today, if you decide to go to polling stations and cast your vote, you will help solve the collective problem of apathy that has plagued democracies everywhere. By casting your ballot, you prevent small groups of voters deciding the outcome of the election, especially if these people have opposing ideas to yours. “The educated citizen knows [...] that the ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all,” John F. Kennedy once said.
We can totally understand if you make your decision in the voting booth based on bread-and-butter issues, whether voting for the presidential candidate who promises to build more infrastructure or to cut the price of basic goods. But occasionally, elections can be a battle to define the soul of a nation. This year’s presidential election, more so than the last in 2014, could be a watershed moment, a crucial test as to whether we can open a whole new chapter in the nation’s election cycle.
By 2024, incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, if reelected, will be barred from seeking a third term, while his challenger Prabowo Subianto, after running unsuccessfully three times will likely give way to a newer generation of politicians to vie for the country’s top job. Also, by casting your ballot today you will improve the credibility of the election and its result. After all, if no one showed up to vote, democracy would soon cease to exist.
So vote today and take pride in carrying out that civic duty.
