The government and DPR have decided not to continue the revision of the Election Law. This means that the regulatory framework that will be used to organize the 2024 elections and regional elections remains the same as the existing regulations. Although there are no regulatory changes at the law level, the Constitutional Court Decision (MK) No. 55/PUU-XVII/2019 shows the existence of new legal conditions that should be guided by policy makers.
The new legal conditions can be seen from the considerations in choosing simultaneous elections. The Constitutional Court states in its legal considerations that in choosing the type of election simultaneity, five things must be considered, namely; (1) the selection of models that have implications for changes in the law is carried out with the participation of all groups that have an interest in organizing elections; (2) the possibility of choosing these models is carried out early so that there is time for simulation before the changes are actually effective; (3) the legislator carefully considers all technical implications so that their implementation remains within the limits of reasonable reasoning; (4) the choice of model always takes into account the ease and simplicity for the electorate in exercising the right to vote as a manifestation of the exercise of popular sovereignty; and (5) does not often change the model of direct elections held simultaneously so as to build certainty in the implementation of elections.
The existence of this new legal condition should be guided by the DPR, government, and election organizers to prepare for the 2024 elections. Simulation, technical implications so that the implementation remains within the limits of reasonable reasoning, paying attention to the convenience of voters must be taken into consideration in preparing for the 2024 elections.
The 2024 elections are still 2.5 years away. However, the stages must be prepared from now on. In 2024, there will be five-box elections like the 2019 elections plus simultaneous regional elections throughout Indonesia in November 2024. Election observers and election organizers have predicted that there will be a number of challenges in facing the 2024 simultaneous elections.
With no changes to the electoral law, the election organizers actually already have an overview of the organization of the 2024 elections and regional elections. Therefore, mapping can already be done regarding the potential challenges that may be faced in the 2024 elections. One of the things that can be anticipated is the potential crush of stages between the 2024 elections and regional elections. To support these efforts, it cannot only be left to election organizers in an effort to minimize the challenges that may occur in the 2024 elections.
Electoral stages as a cycle
The International IDEA, in its Electoral Management Design guidebook, explains that the organization of elections is a cycle. This cycle is divided into a pre-election period, an election period and a post-election period. In this cycle, the activities included in the core stages of the election consist of only four activities, namely nomination, campaigning, voting and counting, and determining election results.
When referring to this cycle, the electoral stages can actually be simplified. This means that other activities such as the formation of electoral districts, registration of political parties participating in the election, and voter registration can be carried out in the election pre-stage cycle. Actually, efforts to simplify the electoral stages can already be done. For example, for the activity of updating the voters list.
Currently, the KPU is mandated by law to update the voters list on an ongoing basis. Currently, election organizers no longer need to wait for the election stage to update voter data. Election data continues to be updated regularly so that election data is always up-to-date and accurate. Thus, this can greatly help the process of determining the voter list ahead of the 2024 Election, because election organizers no longer need to carry out the data collection process from scratch.
However, to be able to launch the process of updating the voters list on an ongoing basis, it does not only depend on the KPU, but also requires cooperation and data integration with the Population and Civil Registration Office. The Dinas Dukcapil is required to provide population data to the KPU on a regular basis so that the process of updating the voters list on an ongoing basis can run optimally. However, there is no regulatory framework that requires the Dinas Dukcapil to provide its data regularly. Population data is only provided to KPU by the Dinas Dukcapil before the election stage begins. This voter registration stage can also be simplified by making the DPT in the 2024 elections as the DPS for the 2024 elections.
Another activity is the formation of electoral districts, especially for the formation of district/city DPRD electoral districts. This could have been done earlier if the formation of electoral districts was adjusted to the population census cycle conducted by BPS. The 2020 population census is the latest population data that can be used as a database for the formation of electoral districts. This means that electoral districts do not need to be formed every time an election is held.
Another point is related to the timing of activities in the stages of the election, for example, registration of political parties participating in the election, verification of political parties participating in the election, registration of legislative candidates, and registration of presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The time for the stages of organizing the election has been rigidly determined in Law No. 7/2017. The stages whose time has been locked in this law, if accumulated, will take about two years to prepare for the election.
In fact, there are actually stages whose time can be shortened, especially since there is also the help of technological instruments. KPU has chosen a number of applications that can actually facilitate the process of the election stages. For example, SIPOL as an instrument for registering political parties participating in the election. However, the existence of these applications still requires a legal umbrella at the law level.
Simplification in the stages of this election is important considering the potential complexity of the stages that can be experienced by election organizers in the field. For this reason, the involvement of other stakeholders such as the government and the DPR is needed to help make these stages simpler. The government, Commission II, and KPU have formed a joint working team, one of the objectives of which is to map the potential complexities that may be faced and provide solutions to minimize this. So it is hoped that the results of this joint working team can come out immediately so that we have a long preparation in facing the 2024 Election. []
KHOIRUNNISA NUR AGUSTYATI
Executive Director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem)
This article was published on rumahpemilu.org on August 13, 2021 with the title “Simplifying the Election Stages”, https://rumahpemilu.org/menyederhanakan-tahapan-pemilu/