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To vote or not to vote: Talk of ‘golput’ resurfaces ahead of 2024 race
Candidates of the 2024 elections must contend with the lingering golput movement that is most pronounced among younger voters, as people under 40 make up the majority of voters in the upcoming elections.
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Three young people have their electronic identification cards (e-KTP) made while South Sulawesi’s acting governor Bahtiar Baharuddin (fourth left) looks on, during an inspection of a local government facility in Luwu, South Sulawesi on Nov. 5, 2023. People under 40, including first-time voters, will make up the majority of voters in the 2024 elections, according to the General Elections Commission (KPU). (Antara/Handout/South Sulawesi PR department/-)
Hearing about his friends not wanting to vote in next year’s election made Kurniawan, a 50-year-old freelance editor from Bandung, West Java, scoff.
“Not voting is just succumbing to your own ego,” he told The Jakarta Post on Oct. 26. “Trust me, a presidential election is way too big for nonvoters to make a dent.”
With the 2024 presidential candidates announced and the final list of legislative election contenders just issued, the public debate about abstaining from voting, known in the country as golput, has inevitably resurfaced.
On social media, users who have voiced their pessimism over the outlook of the electoral contest or Indonesia’s democracy in general say they will abstain.
“Better for me to just [go] golput in 2024. None of the candidates are good,” @anneliezee said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 30.
However, for every post that suggests apathy toward the elections, there is a wave of users encouraging people to exercise their right to vote. Many express that regardless of the disdain some voters may have for all candidates, every vote still counts, now perhaps more than ever.
“Please don’t abstain from voting in 2024, friends. Our votes are vital in shaping Indonesia’s future,” X user @faisaladw8 tweeted on Oct. 28.
