Elections in Indonesia
Members of the People's Representative Council are elected by proportional representation from multi-candidate constituencies.
Members of the Regional Representative Council are elected by single non-transferable vote.
Indonesian election conduct abides by six principles of direct, general, free, confidential, honest, and fair.
After the 1998 reform and the following political liberalisation, two extra principles of "Jurdil" are adopted for the first time in the 1999 election.
For presidential, gubernatorial, mayoral, and regent elections, punching can be done in one of the candidates' photograph, ballot number, or name.
Elections were first promised for January 1946 by vice-president Hatta on 3 November 1945, a promise repeated later the same month by Prime Minister Sjahrir and senior minister Amir Sjarifuddin in response to criticism of the cabinet for being non-democratic.
They were never held, partly because the Indonesian National Revolution was still ongoing and the Republic only controlled Java, Sumatra and a few other areas, and partly because the socialist government was extremely unpopular due to its policy of negotiating with the Dutch colonial power, and would be expected to do very badly in any election.
On all occasions, Suharto was the only person ever stood as a presidential candidate, thus enabling him to be elected unanimously.
To ensure that Golkar always won more than 60% of the popular vote, the New Order regime used a number of tactics.
This meant that although PDI-P won the largest share of the popular vote, the new president was not its nominee, Megawati Sukarnoputri, but Abdurrahman Wahid of PKB.
Beginning in 2004, the MPR would be composed of the existing DPR and a new Regional Representative Council (DPD).
[10] This change and an amendment for direct election of the President and Vice-President were significant steps for Indonesia on the road towards full democracy.
Reasons for accepting vote buying include considering it as a gift that can not be rejected (35–46%), compensation for not working on the election day (25–30%), and supporting daily needs (9–16%).
[26] According to Burhanuddin Muhtadi in his book Kuasa Uang; Politik Uang dalam Pemilu Pasca-Orde Baru (The Power of Money; Money Politics in the Post-New Order Elections), vote-buying in Indonesia is done by individual candidates instead of political parties because of intense intra-party competition.
[27] In 2020, simultaneous local elections across the country were held in a single day amid the COVID-19 pandemic which stirred some controversy among the Indonesian public.
[28][29] During elections, many people are unable to vote outside their domicile, forcing them to be abstentions (golongan putih, golput).
