The election will be held in various areas, from urban to border areas, with the hope of selecting new leaders who can improve the prosperity of the people in each region.
One of the indicators of a successful democracy is people's participation in elections. Thus, political accessibility, information, telecommunications, human resources, as well as infrastructure and transportation accessibility also determine the increase in political participation of a community.
Given limitations related to access, it is challenging to increase the participation of people in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost regions, locally known as 3T regions.
During the General Elections in February, voter participation was recorded at 81 percent, surpassing the target of 79.5 percent set in the 2020–2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).
Nationally, people's political participation is quite high. However, the 3T regions need special attention to increase residents' participation to at least reach the target set by the government in the RPJMN.
There are several underdeveloped regions where political participation among people is still low, including Belu district (60 percent) and Kupang district (70 percent).
According to Presidential Regulation Number 63 of 2020 on Determination of Underdeveloped Regions for 2020–2024, there are 62 districts categorized as underdeveloped.
The districts comprise 4 districts in North Sumatra, 13 districts in East Nusa Tenggara, 3 districts in Central Sulawesi, 6 districts in Maluku, 2 districts in North Maluku, 8 districts in West Papua, 22 districts in Papua, and 1 district each in West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Lampung, and West Nusa Tenggara.
These underdeveloped regions are facing limitations in the economic, social, infrastructure, health services, and educational aspects.
The frontier regions are at the forefront of the country's defense. The regions usually directly border other countries and have a strategic role in maintaining the country's sovereignty.
Furthermore, the outermost regions are located far from the center of government and have limited accessibility.
Big challenges
Democracy is one of the political instruments of social welfare. Upholding democracy also means building social welfare sustainably.
Building democracy in the 3T regions is not easy because the challenges are significant, and the task requires process and patience.
Indeed, the implementation of the General Elections must be used as a lesson for the Regional Head Elections.
Organizers must learn from the common problems and obstacles that emerged in the February elections in the 3T regions so that the implementation of regional head elections in those regions can run better.
The problems that arise during regional head elections in 3T regions are often related to the geographical location of 3T regions, which is indeed difficult to reach; limited infrastructure; inadequate transportation; and limited human resources; among others.
Limited and inadequate accessibility of information and telecommunications technology is a serious issue that can disrupt the smooth running of regional head elections.
Furthermore, logistics distribution is also often hindered by challenging geographical conditions, limited transportation modes, as well as factors related to nature and weather.
In such areas, voters also often face difficulty reaching polling stations.
Meanwhile, in terms of human resources, 3T regions are facing issues regarding the limited number of polling officers and supervisors. There are also issues related to a lack of knowledge and understanding of tasks among the officers.
The accuracy of voter data development needs serious attention. It is possible that many are still missed when data matching and investigation of prospective voters are carried out.
It is also possible that many people do not own an ID card even though they have the right to vote. This can occur due to the minimal availability of information and telecommunication technology and lack of political awareness among the residents.
Addressing the challenges related to the implementation of elections in 3T regions demands synergy and commitment between stakeholders, including the General Elections Commission (KPU), the General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), the central government, regional governments, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and the community.
That way, a more advanced democratic society can be created.
Regional and central governments have the responsibility to tackle the hindrances related to geographical conditions, infrastructure, availability of adequate transportation modes, and telecommunications and information technology accessibility.
Increasing participation
KPU commissioner Yulianto Sudrajat underscored that the participation of the community and all stakeholders is key to the successful implementation of elections.
Organizing the Regional Head Elections in 3T regions this year will be challenging. Therefore, maximizing the role and involvement of the community at every stage of the elections is essential.
The efforts made by the KPU to boost the participation of voters include carrying out dissemination of information at schools, universities, and Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), as well as involving community organizations in educating the voters.
With higher participation of the community in the regional head elections, the quality of democracy in the country is expected to improve as well.
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Translator: Budi Suyanto, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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