KPU: The Burden Of Administration Is Too Heavy For Voting 15 May 2024

JAKARTA - The General Elections Commission said that the burden of organizing elections would be too heavy if the voting day for the 2024 national election was held on 15 May 2024 while the regional elections were held in November 2024.

KPU member, Pramono U Tanthowi, in Jakarta, Thursday, said that in principle the KPU is not fixated on the date set for polling day. "The most important thing for the KPU is that each stage of the election has sufficient time," he said as quoted by Antara, Thursday, November 4.

Meanwhile, Pramono said, if the election day for the 2024 General Election is held in May 2024 and the Regional Head Election is in November 2024, the time from polling day to the initial stages of the Pilkada is very short.

In fact, he said, the initial stages of the Pilkada will coincide with polling day. And the problem, according to him, was that the two stages at that time, both the General Election and the Regional Head Election, both required focus, concentration and direct work in the field.

According to him, at the same time the KPU will accept the submission of conditions for supporting individual candidates and must also hold a polling day and vote counting if the polling day is held on May 15, 2024.

"So how is it possible when we focus on voting and recapitulation of the national election but at the same time we must accept the submission of KTP support, not only accept the submission but also directly count, check and directly verify the administration and factual verification," he said.

He said that from a technical point of view, this stage was too heavy a burden, especially for the Regency/City KPU and lower-level organizers.

"So the focus will definitely be divided. That's not good in electoral management, if the slice is only administrative work, it's okay, but this is a vote counting process where all levels work," he said.

According to him, if the option of 15 May 2024 is still chosen as the voting day for the 2024 General Election, then the KPU hopes that the election day can be shifted to at least February 2025.

However, if the election day is still held in November 2024, then according to the KPU, the election day should be held in February 2024 considering the time gap required so that the holding of the two elections does not overlap.