Jakarta – The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has released an election vulnerability index identifying regions prone to electoral fraud and conflicts, with West Papua province topping the list.
The list has been published ahead of concurrent regional elections slated for next year.
Bawaslu spokesperson Daniel Zuchron said the criteria for the index comprised organizer professionalism, candidate contestation and level of public participation. The scale grades from 0 to 5, with 0 to 1.0 being "very safe" and 4.1 to 5.0 being "very prone" to conflict.
The list reveals that West Papua (3.381), Aceh (3.327) and Banten (3.147) top the vulnerability index for the elections being held in 101 regions in seven provinces and 94 regencies or cities.
"The elections in these three provinces require intensive attention and oversight. We have to take anticipatory measures to minimize possible problems," Daniel said as quoted by kompas.com.
Daniel said the main reason for West Papua, the easternmost province in the archipelago, coming first was the lack of professionalism among election organizers.