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Open-list voting system ‘needs reform'
Indonesia should consider a mixed-list system that would also have a proportional element in the next general elections.
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A resident casts his ballot during a revote at a polling station in Ciputat, South Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday. The General Elections Commission (KPU) held a revote at two polling stations in South Tangerang and another four in Lebak regency in the same province because some voters who did not live in the areas cast ballots at the stations without submitting the required A5 registration forms. (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
V
ote-buying marred the 2019 legislative elections and the open-list proportional voting system is believed to play a crucial role in explaining the seemingly intractable problem.
The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) reported that it found 25 cases of vote-buying before the April 17 polling day — a sharp decrease from 2014’s 85 cases.
The Indonesian Survey Institute’s survey ahead of polling day showed 19.4 percent of voters admitted to having received offers in the form of money or goods by political parties, candidates or their teams, compared to 25 percent in 2014.
Bawaslu recorded various forms of vote-buying cases this year with politicians offering items such as basic necessities, cash or even umrah (minor haj) sponsorship.
Edward Aspinall — a professor at the Australian National University who has researched vote-buying across Southeast Asia — said one of the reasons contributing to the decline was that politicians were aware that vote-buying was not useful anymore. He found that only 10 to 12 percent of voters changed their vote because of transactional politics.
However, there were still candidates who could not avoid the temptation to buy votes because of the open-list system that made them compete with their party peers for votes. It made them think that vote-buying would give them a winning edge.
“They are worried that they won’t be able to win if they don’t do it. How else can you beat your rivals for votes when you can’t use the party platform and ideology anymore?” Aspinall said at a discussion on the Conference on Electoral Reform held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday.
