Jakarta and regions note historically low voter turnout in local elections – Politics

Jakarta and other provinces suffered their lowest voter turnout in history in Wednesday’s simultaneous regional elections, according to polls and election commissions, with analysts blaming political boredom and dissatisfaction with the candidates.

According to Litbang Kompas, a research arm Compass daily.

This was lower than Jakarta’s turnout in the general election in February, when about 79 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the presidential and legislative elections.

This year’s tally was also the lowest since Jakarta first held direct regional elections in 2007, when 65 percent of the city’s registered voters cast ballots. This number remained until the 2012 election, which elected Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, but rose to 78 percent in 2017 when Anies Baswedan defeated incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in the runoff.

The low turnout was not limited to Jakarta, as other provinces also had fewer voters casting ballots on Wednesday.

Litbang Compass also found that in West Java, the country’s most populous region, only 66 percent of nearly 36 million registered voters cast ballots on Wednesday. That number was down from 80 percent in the February election and 71 percent turnout in the 2018 gubernatorial election.

Participation was particularly low in the provincial capital of Bandung, with the People’s Voter Education Network (JPPR), which monitors the elections, estimating that less than 50 percent of eligible voters exercised their right to vote.