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Jakarta, regions see historically low voter turnout in local polls
In Jakarta, only 57 percent of registered voters voted during Wednesday's gubernatorial election, a trend also witnessed in other regions during this year's simultaneous regional elections, according to data from pollsters and poll bodies.
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A voter dips her finger in an ink bottle after casting her vote at a polling station at the Kendari Women's Penitentiary in Southeast Sulawesi on Nov. 27, 2024, the day of the simultaneous regional elections in 37 provinces and more than 500 cities and regencies across the archipelago. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
The simultaneous regional head elections on Wednesday saw Jakarta and other provinces suffer from the lowest voter turnout in history, according to figures from pollsters and poll bodies, with analysts blaming the phenomenon on political boredom and dissatisfaction with candidates.
In the capital city, only 57 percent of 8.2 million registered voters showed up at polling stations on Wednesday’s voting day, according to data from Litbang Kompas, the research arm of Kompas daily.
It was lower than the turnout in Jakarta for the February general election, when around 79 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the presidential and legislative polls.
This year’s figure was also the lowest since the first time Jakarta held its direct regional election in 2007, when the city saw 65 percent of registered voters come out to vote. The number remained for the 2012 election that saw Joko “Jokowi” Widodo elected but rose to 78 percent in 2017 when Anies Baswedan defeated incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in a runoff.
The low turnout was not exclusive to Jakarta as other provinces also saw fewer voters cast ballots on Wednesday.
Litbang Kompas also found that in West Java, the country’s most populous region, only 66 percent of nearly 36 million registered voters voted on Wednesday. The number was lower compared to 80 percent in February’s election and 71 percent turnout during the 2018 gubernatorial election.
The participation was especially low in the provincial capital of Bandung, with election watchdog People’s Voter Education Network (JPPR) estimating that less than 50 percent of eligible voters used their right to vote.
