Buying And Selling Votes Phenomenon During Elections, Perludem Questions Bawaslu's Anticipation

The logistics distribution of the 2019 Election uses porter services to two remote villages at the foot of the Meratus Mountains, Hulu Sungai Tengah, South Kalimantan. (Antara-Bayu Pratama S)

JAKARTA - Member of the Advisory Board of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) Titi Anggraini questioned the Election Supervisory Body's (Bawaslu) anticipation of the practice of buying and selling votes during the general election.

"It is hoped that Bawaslu will have a big vision of how to anticipate the practice of buying and selling votes in the 2024 Election," said Titi when she became a guest speaker in the 2024 OTW discussion entitled "A Year Before the Election, People's Eyes are Focused on KPU and Bawaslu" which was held by the survey agency Kedai Kopi in Jakarta, Sunday, February 19, as reported by Antara.

According to her, apart from being a problem that could exacerbate the corruption perception index, the practice of buying and selling is also one of the four problems that often arise in election management and has not been resolved.

Furthermore, Titi explained three other problems that often arise in organizing democratic parties in Indonesia. The first is the validity of the permanent voter list (DPT).

"I think this then relates to not stopping with the accuracy of the DPT, but ensuring that the DPT comprehensively reaches all of our voters because this relates to the availability of election logistics," said Titi.

The next problem is related to the politicization of the state civil apparatus (ASN) or the bureaucracy. According to Titi, to overcome this problem, related parties such as the State Civil Apparatus Commission (KASN) and Bawaslu need to pay serious attention to the neutrality of ASN, especially under the leadership of acting regional heads.

"I also want to emphasize, in 2023, 170 regions will be led by officials. The neutrality and professionalism of the state civil apparatus with acting leadership need to be our concern. Do not let the existence of officials and the neutrality of the state civil apparatus be politicized in such a way for the purposes of the 2024 contest," she said.

Then, the final problem is the neutrality, professionalism, and independence of the KPU and Bawaslu.

"We need to guard the KPU-Bawaslu because the integrity of the election is largely determined by the integrity of the election organizers," said Titi.

She then invited the entire community to oversee the recruitment process for KPU members at the regional level which is currently underway.