Indonesia Hosts World’s Largest Single-Day Elections, Says Home Minister
Jakarta. Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian declared on Tuesday that Indonesia boasts the world's largest single-day elections, arguably the most intricate among global democracies.
Comparing the process to other nations, Tito said that India, the world's largest democracy, spans months for general elections, conducted with varying time frames across states. In the United States, a more extended election period is facilitated by absentee voting and separate polls for Congress.
In Indonesia, over 200 million registered voters participate in electing the president and parliamentary members on a single day, managed through a centralized system overseen by the General Election Commission (KPU), Tito said in Jakarta.
"We elect members of the DPD [Regional Legislative Council], DPR [House of Representatives], and DPRD tier 1 and 2 [provincial and municipal legislative councils] all in one day. That makes our elections the most complex," Tito said.
Mobilizing voters to cast their ballots at polling stations, coordinating nearly 8 million election officials, and engaging around 800,000 supervisors contribute to the challenge, he added.
Despite the intricacies, Tito acknowledged that achieving flawless elections is impossible, citing issues like vote tally discrepancies between polling stations and the central database or compromised ballots.
"The most important thing is the absence of structured, systemic, and massive attempts [to rig the elections]," Tito said.
When serious mistakes or voter fraud are proven, a polling station can arrange a repeat poll. Community members can report election fraud and present evidence to the Election Oversight Body (Bawaslu), the Ethics Council for Election Organizers (DKPP), or the Constitutional Court, Tito said.
The presidential and legislative elections took place on Feb. 14, with Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto poised to secure the presidency with 58 percent of the vote, according to quick counts by major pollsters and an interim vote tally by the KPU.
While the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle is on track to retain its position as the largest political party in the House, its share is expected to drop by around 4 percentage points to 16 percent.
Indonesia is set to hold another election in November to elect governors, mayors, and regents simultaneously.
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