TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Pollsters defend quick counts, challenge critics to open data

In a first, the pollsters, who have almost accurately predicted all election results in the past, held a joint event in Jakarta.

Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post)
Premium
Jakarta
Sun, April 21, 2019

Share This Article

Change Size

Pollsters defend quick counts, challenge critics to open data A boy wearing a traditional costume guards ballot boxes at a pooling center during the presidential election in Trumon, Southern Aceh province on April 17, 2019. Indonesia kicked off one of the world's biggest one-day elections, pitting president Joko Widodo against ex-general Prabowo Subianto in a race to lead the Muslim-majority nation. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

E

ight reputable pollsters grouped under the Indonesian Association for Public Opinion Surveys (Persepi) have defended their “quick count” methodology amid allegations they were biased toward President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

In a first, the pollsters, who have almost accurately predicted all election results in the past, held a joint event in Jakarta on Saturday where they invited the media and the public to examine their methodology as well as raw data from polling stations they surveyed on election day.

The press briefing came only a day after presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto lashed out at the pollsters, calling them liars and asking them “to move to the Antarctic to spread lies to the penguins.”

Quick-count results conducted by the pollsters have shown that the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin pair is likely to win the presidential race with 54 to 55 percent of the vote against Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno’s 45 to 46 percent.

Prabowo has strongly rejected the results, saying that based on the vote count conducted by his own team, he had won by 62 percent. He claimed to have conducted a real count of data from more than 320,000 polling stations.

Persepi head and Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) executive director Philips J. Vermonte said the press briefing was held in response to attempts by certain groups to delegitimize the scientific method used in counting votes.   

“We invite the public to a scientific debate that is evidence-based. Through the data expose, you can see how we did the quick counts. We’ll arrange it like a bazaar for you to see our data closely. There are photos of C1 forms. We went through the process transparently,” he told reporters.

to Read Full Story

  • Unlimited access to our web and app content
  • e-Post daily digital newspaper
  • No advertisements, no interruptions
  • Privileged access to our events and programs
  • Subscription to our newsletters
or

Purchase access to this article for

We accept

TJP - Visa
TJP - Mastercard
TJP - GoPay

Redirecting you to payment page

Pay per article

Pollsters defend quick counts, challenge critics to open data

Rp 29,000 / article

1
Create your free account
By proceeding, you consent to the revised Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.
Already have an account?

2
  • Palmerat Barat No. 142-143
  • Central Jakarta
  • DKI Jakarta
  • Indonesia
  • 10270
  • +6283816779933
2
Total Rp 29,000
{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.