T

he American cultural center, @America, organized a talk show attended by many first-time voters in the 2014 elections.

'€˜The Ayo Vote 2004 Elections'€ talk show took place at @America, Pacific Place shopping center in Jakarta on July 1, with opening remarks by John Y. Choi, assistant cultural attaché for @America.

Panelists for this event included comedian Pandji Poragiwaksono, Phillip Vermonte researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and founder of the Indonesian Youth Conference Alanda Karzia.

 Vermonte said young voters should seek accurate information to ensure they are well-informed about legislative and presidential candidates before deciding who to vote for.

He said that such information is available in conventional media '€” print, television and radio '€” as well as the Internet.

The tone of the talk show was light but several critical points were discussed. Meanwhile, Pandji criticized many politicians and the apathy of voters about the importance of the upcoming elections.

'€œThere'€™s no difference whether you choose to vote or just be Golput [abstainers] because they [politicians] are lazy. Many choose to vote because they just follow others,'€ he pointed out.

Pandji advised young voters to research the candidates they want to vote for.

Meanwhile, Alanda Karzia suggested that if certain voters found there to be no suitable candidate they must think about their own part in future elections. They all agreed that voters between 17 to 30 years are important because they make up about 30 percent of the total votes in this country.

Raafi Seiff
Citizen journalist