Academician calls to improve management of simultaneous elections

"There is a pressing need to improve the management side of the election."

Lecturer at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Jenderal Sudirman University Purwokerto Ahmad Sabiq called to further streamline the management of simultaneous elections to prevent recurrence of incidents as in the 2019 election.

"There is a pressing need to improve the management side of the election. What is achievable is how the voting process facilitates voters and does not make it tough for the organizers," according to the lecturer in the Political Party and Electoral System theory course in Purwokerto, Banyumas District, Central Java, Saturday.

In a conversation with ANTARA, he recalled the several polling group organizers (KPPS) officers who tailed away as the organizers of the voting on Apr 17.

Sabiq opined that "advance voting" was one of the voting processes that facilitates voters and simplified tasks for organizers.

He elaborated that in "advance voting," the voters could sign up to vote on the previous day, especially for people facing technical obstacles to exercise their voting rights on the "D" day of voting.

"This 'advance voting' will protect the rights of voters and reduce the buildup of voters on the 'D' day of voting," he remarked.

In addition to "advance voting," Sabiq said he could opt for "electronic voting," or voting by utilizing information technology.

He believes "electronic voting" will facilitate the calculation process and save time and energy as well as increase the efficiency of the process.

Sabiq highlighted the need for making preparations for offering the alternatives, especially "electronic voting," while organizing simultaneous elections and their stage-wise implementation to prevent a relapse of events that had occurred during the 2019 election.

He cited as an example the computer-based national exam (UNBK) held for senior high schools and the equivalent that can now be applied across Indonesia.

"Perhaps innovation in several areas is the need of the hour to solve problems (in the implementation of elections)," he stated.

Clarifying matters pertaining to the simultaneous 2024 election being possibly organized in two or three stages, Sabiq called on the need for a comprehensive study owing to problems relating merely to technical implementation arising in the 2019 election.

The 2019 election was organized on Apr 17 for the election of the president and vice president as well as the members of the Indonesian Parliament, the Regional Representative Council (DPD RI), provincial and district/city parliament.

The simultaneous election in 2024 will be held to not only elect the president and vice president along with members of the parliament, but also to choose governors and deputy governors and district heads/mayors and deputy district heads/deputy mayor.