Anastasya Lavenia Y, Jakarta – The recent Jakarta Regional Elections saw a high number of voters abstaining. Asep Hasan Sadikin, a researcher at the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), attributes this low voter turnout to a mismatch between public aspirations and the candidates endorsed by political parties.
Asep explained that public opinion polls consistently indicated strong support for figures like Anies Baswedan and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok). For instance, a survey conducted by Indikator Politik Indonesia in July 2024 placed Anies at the top with 39.7% electability, followed by Ahok with 23.8% and Ridwan Kamil with 13.1%. However, neither Anies nor Ahok received backing from any political party.
"So, the current candidates seem to align more with the preferences of the political elite rather than the public," Asep told Tempo on Friday, November 29, 2024.
Another factor contributing to the low voter turnout is the close proximity of the regional elections to the national elections. This tight schedule may have led to voter fatigue and apathy. However, he opined that this phenomenon was observed across various regions, not only Jakarta.
The General Election Commission (KPU) said that the voter turnout for the Jakarta Regional Elections was lower compared to the 2024 presidential election. The KPU has not yet received the detailed figures.
"Based on initial observation, the voter turnout is lower than during the previous presidential and legislative elections," said the Head of the Socialization and Community Participation Division of the Jakarta KPU, Astri Megatari, at her office on Thursday, November 28, 2024.
According to the Charta Politika survey, only 58% of registered voters participated in the Jakarta Regional Elections, resulting in a 42% voter abstention rate. This figure represents a decline from the 70% turnout in the 2017 regional elections. The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) also reported a voter turnout rate of 69.57%.
[Novali Panji Nugroho contributed to the writing of this article.]