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Rise and fall of ‘blank boxes’ in November regional elections
As potential candidates register their candidacy with the local and regional offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU), concerns linger that dozens, if not hundreds, of regions will see uncontested races in the November regional elections because of the high nomination threshold for candidates and political parties.
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A stock illustration of ballot papers inserted to a ballot box. (Shutterstock/Mzynasx)
The game is afoot: The General Elections Commission’s (KPU) regional offices have opened their doors for the registration of regional head candidates to compete in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections.
The November elections will be the first time that Indonesian voters simultaneously elect governors across 37 provinces as well as mayors and regents in more than 500 regencies and cities across the nation.
But as candidate pairs throng the local poll body offices to register their candidacies, concerns linger about whether dozens of regions will see uncontested races, where millions of voters might need to choose between a sole candidate and a kotak kosong (blank box).
The worry has intensified in the last few months following political maneuvers to create a grand alliance in regions to imitate a political coalition at the national level, hindering candidates and political parties that do not meet the nomination threshold.
Fighting ‘blank box’
Candidates have been able to run uncontested in regional elections since 2015, after the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a provision in the Regional Elections Law requiring the KPU to confirm at least two candidate pairs in every provincial, regional and municipal election.
The law was then revised to allow single candidate pairs to be declared eligible by the poll body. The commission also allowed voters who rejected the sole candidate to instead vote for a blank box on the ballot.
