Potential voters for the 2024 regional elections reach 207.11 million people

The number of potential voters in the 2024 regional elections is greater than the number of voters in the 2024 elections.

KOMPAS/DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian (right) handed over the Potential Electoral Voter Population Data (DP4) for the 2024 Regional Elections to the General Election Commission (KPU) at the KPU office in Jakarta, on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The number of potential voters in the 2024 Regional Head Election reached 207,100,768 people, greater than the number of voters for the 2024 Election which was set at 204 million people. It is hoped that all voters will receive guarantees of being able to exercise their voting rights in the simultaneous regional elections which will be held in 37 provinces and 508 districts/cities.

Based on Population Data of Potential Election Voters (DP4) for 2024 Pilkada submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs ( Ministry of Home Affairs) to the General Election Commission (KPU), Thursday (2/5/2024), the total population of potential voters reached 207,110,768 people. The data in DP4 will be synchronized and validated by the KPU before being determined as the Permanent Voter List (DPT) for the 2024 Pilkada.

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian stated that DP4 for the simultaneous regional elections in 2024 is sourced from demographic and civil registration data from the Ministry of Home Affairs. One of the duties and responsibilities of the government in organizing regional elections is to prepare the potential voter data. The potential data is taken from criteria, including Indonesian citizens aged 17 on November 27, as well as non-members of the TNI/Polri, as they do not have voting rights.

"The number of DP4 forms that we have submitted to the KPU is 207,110,768 individuals. For male voters, it is 103,228,748 and for female voters, it is 103,882,020," said Tito at the KPU building on Thursday (2/5/2024).

KOMPAS/NINA SUSILO

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian

The DP4 that has been submitted, according to Tito, is dynamic because it is influenced by data on changes of address, deaths, and those who register or join the TNI/Polri institutions. Those who were originally civilians but later joined the TNI/Polri automatically lose their right to vote. The KPU is required to validate and synchronize the DPT so that the data can be changed.

"Thus, on the day of the voting, we hope that everyone who has the right to vote is properly registered. We also expect support from the Election Commission, in addition to the ongoing cooperation and coordination to update these data," he explained.

Tito also underlines that the Ministry of Home Affairs also hopes that the KPU pays close attention to data security aspects because the DP4 that will be processed into the DPT is personal data that must be protected. Cybersecurity systems at the KPU must also be well-maintained.

The KPU is obliged to validate and synchronize the DPT so that the data can change.

KPU Data and Information Division Coordinator, Betty Epsilon Idroos, added that DP4 will serve as the basis for compiling the voter list. DP4 will be harmonized with the latest voter list, such as the 2020 simultaneous regional elections. The latest voter list data will be intersected with DP4 and updated with the latest population data.

"After synchronization, the result will become a list of voters called the Voter List. Before becoming a voter list, it is first delivered to the district/city KPU for mapping, for example, one polling station with a maximum of 600 voters and several requirements," said Betty.

They illustrate, for example, that there is data showing one family card in one polling station (TPS). The Voter Data Update Committee (Pantarlih) conducts verification and research (coklit) from house to house. If in the 2024 Presidential Election, one TPS can accommodate a maximum of 300 people, for the simultaneous regional elections in 2024, it can accommodate a maximum of 600 people.

"So, later grouping will be made easier, for example from one polling station to two polling stations for regional elections," he added.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

The Chairman of the Jakarta General Election Commission, Betty Epsilon Idroos, explained the casting of ballots for members of the House of Representatives in the event "2019 Election Simulation: Women Choose" in Jakarta on April 6th, 2019.

During the upcoming regional elections, there will also be special polling stations where voter data updates will be carried out by the district/city KPU, not by the polling officer. They will work together with the responsible parties at each special location. The updating of voter data between the polling officer and the district/city KPU will run parallel and result in a temporary voter list (DPS).

"We will present this DPS to the public to receive input and feedback. Then, we will also conduct a duplicate data analysis and invalid data from the DPS data before we announce and determine it as a permanent voter list (DPT)," he explained.

Betty emphasized that the process of compiling the voter list data is very long. Therefore, the KPU does indeed require public participation to check the data starting from DP4. The data will be downloaded and the results synchronized before the final voter list. At each stage, the KPU will ask the public to check the data on dptonline.kpu.go.id so that the community can provide input and feedback since the website was announced.

Regarding the security aspect highlighted by the government, Betty stated that there have been efforts by the KPU to safeguard voter data. With the assistance of all parties, including the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), the KPU can safeguard voter data as best as possible. "The Cyber Security Task Force will also continue to assist the KPU in jointly safeguarding KPU data. In this case, DP4 will be converted into voter data," she said.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Chairman of the General Election Commission (KPU) Hasyim Asy'ari

The head of the General Election Commission (KPU), Hasyim Asy'ari, revealed that the KPU of Indonesia hopes that the provincial, regency, and city KPUs will ensure that Indonesian citizens who meet the requirements as voters in regional elections, be it for governors, mayors, or regents, are eligible to be included in the DPT (voters list).

"Citizens who are not present at the polling place on November 27, 2024, will also be subject to a policy of a transferable voter list that only applies across districts or cities for the gubernatorial election as long as it is still within the same province. However, if they are not present on election day, they will of course not be served as it was with the presidential election yesterday," he explained.

For voters at the district/city level, if on the day of the regional head election they are not in their place of residence, they can still exercise their voting rights at their original polling station or by transferring their vote to a polling station located in the same area.

"Therefore, we hope that the Provincial and Regency/City KPU work carefully so that all citizens who are eligible to vote in the election can be included in the voter list and can exercise their right to vote," said Hasyim.

Regional election budget

Regarding the budget, because the 2024 simultaneous regional elections are funded through regional grant funds through the Regional Grant Agreement (NPHD), their duty is to coordinate with the Regional Elections Commission (KPU), Regional Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), and security personnel. All regions have budgeted the NPHD up to 100 percent for the regional KPU. Meanwhile, the budget for the regional Bawaslu is still around 95 percent.

KOMPAS/ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

The Acting Governor of South Sumatra, Agus Fatoni (on the right), accompanied by Chairman of the General Election Commission Hasyim Asy'ari (on the left), provided a press statement after the signing of the "Regional Grant Agreement (NPHD) for Simultaneous Regional Elections in 2024" in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Thursday (9/11/2023).

"The rest is still being pursued by us. Out of a total proposed budget of around Rp 20 trillion for all Regional Election Commissions, it has already been allocated. For the Election Supervisory Agency, it is around Rp 6.3 trillion, making the total nearly Rp 27 trillion from all regions, not including the security forces of the Indonesian National Army and National Police," he explained.

Regarding the target realization of the simultaneous regional elections budget in 2024, Tito stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs hopes that it can be completed as soon as possible, in May-June. This is because the grant funding is needed to execute the programs and stages of the election. The military and police also need to prepare so that the programs and stages can be rolled out one or two months in advance.

"So that there is enough time for procurement, auctions, and so on," said Tito.