Jakarta. Law firm Themis warns the potential for fraud is higher this year than in previous elections. The law firm has collaborated with other anti-corruption NGOs to create a public website where Indonesian voters can report cases of election fraud called Peta Kecurangan Pemilu (Election Fraud Map).

Launched on Jan.7, 2024, Peta Kecurangan Pemilu's latest report finds that fraudulent practices, like vote buying, leave many provinces susceptible to election fraud, with West Java being the most vulnerable according to the Election Fraud Map. But what does election fraud look like in Indonesia? Is it too late to report it? 

Anti-corruption organizations are urging Indonesian voters to continue submitting any instances of voter fraud they come across. Themis researcher Siti Shafiyah Nur Ubai works to investigate reports of fraud submitted to the Election Fraud Map.

"Fraud has always happened in Indonesia, so it is important that you have platforms like the Election Fraud Map where anyone can report potential wrongdoing,"  she said.

 
The website is a collaboration between Themis, the Indonesian Goddess of Justice Foundation, The Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), and several other anti-corruption NGOs. While many other fraud report sites exist Shafiyah says the Election Fraud Map has a distinct approach.

"Themis is a law firm with a focus on human rights. What makes this map different from other fraud reporting pages is we have a legal focus," she told the Jakarta Globe recently. 

“While other sites might have a corruption approach or a human rights focus, we try to find out what laws are being broken. We intend to keep working on these cases even after the election," she added.
 
Siti urges voters to keep submitting fraud claims to the map, even in the final days before the election. "It is not too late to report fraud. We expect that there will be instances of fraud on the election day itself, we will be working to verify these claims on February 14th and afterward," she said.
 
The Election Fraud Map claims that fraud reports can be investigated and verified in 24 hours. 

"Fraud reports should be made with supporting documents, photos, or videos. After a report is made, we contact whoever made the claim and verify their identity and background. From there we look over the supporting evidence," she said. 

Themis collaborates with Indonesian Corruption Watch and other NGOs to verify these claims. 
 
Anti-corruption bodies warn that many instances of fraud go unreported. Many Indonesians are confused about what election fraud looks like. Siti identified two main types of fraud most commonly reported to the map; ASN (civil servants) neutrality violations and vote buying.
 
"Right now there are a lot of ASNs showing their political interests, this is not allowed in Indonesia," she said. 

Under Law Number 5 of 2014 on State Civil Apparatus (ASN), they must not declare their political leanings. ASN includes public officials, district heads, police, and teachers.

ASN neutrality violations have sharply increased in the lead-up to the 2024 election, with government employees declaring their political leanings in person and on social media. 

The State Civil Service Commission reported 246 cases of ASN violations in the last year. The West Java Election Supervisory Body investigated 20 neutrality violations in January, with reports of sub-district heads, policemen, and school principals breaching neutrality law. The Election Fraud Map encourages voters to submit possible ASN neutrality violations to their website.
   
Money politics has plagued Indonesia's democracy for several years, especially at the legislative level. While there have been efforts to crack down on the practice, voters are still vulnerable.

According to research institute Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies Indonesia had the third-highest rate of vote buying in the world in 2022. Vote buying is not always as simple as trading cash for votes. According to Siti, politicians gifting food and other items is a common fraud practice.

"There are legislative candidates who have been giving people rice, oil, shampoo, and other household items to win their votes," she said. "A lot of people don't know this is a type of bribery or voter fraud. We need to educate people about what counts as fraud because these cases don't get reported." 
 
In the final days before Indonesia's 2024 election fraud is an increasingly pressing issue. Amidst reports of corruption and neutrality violations sites like Peta Kecurangan Pemilu are working beyond election day to bring justice to these reports of fraud.  

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