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Wider time gap needed between general and regional elections: Legislator
House of Representatives Commission II vice chairman Dede Yusuf has called for a wider time gap between the general election and regional elections, citing voter fatigue.
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Tallying the vote: A local poll administrator (KPPS) shows a ballot during the vote counting process for the Jakarta gubernatorial election at a polling station in Jakarta on Nov. 27. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
T
here should be a wider gap between the general elections and regional head elections, and this can be considered when revising Law No. 7/2017 on General Elections, the House of Representatives Commission II vice chairman Dede Yusuf said.
"Perhaps in the future, we can make changes, such as holding elections in different years,” Dede said on Monday at the General Elections Commission (KPU) headquarters in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
“However, what is clear for now is that voter participation was higher at the regency-city level compared to the provincial level."
Dede, who represents the Democratic Party, added that regional head elections being held to soon after the presidential and legislative elections might be one of the fatigue factors for voters and poll organizers.
Other than fatigue, Dede said the low voter turnout could also be affected by the competing candidates in regional head elections.
He said that candidates’ attractiveness was very influential in determining whether voters come to the polling stations to cast their ballots.
The 2024 regional head elections on Nov. 27 had a lower voter turnout at about 68.16 percent when compared with the Feb. 14 legislative and presidential elections at around 80 percent.
"Based on the available data, voter turnout for regional elections was indeed below 70 percent overall,” the KPU coordinator for citizen dissemination and participation, August Mellaz, said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.
“However, if we look more closely at each province and regency or city, the turnout varied. Some provinces reached 81 percent, others were at 77 percent, while some were as low as 54 percent. These variations still occurred."
The Nov. 27 elections marked the first time regional head elections were held simultaneously across Indonesia. The elections were held only nine months after citizens voted for presidential and legislative candidates.
