Perludem: e-Voting and e-Counting Are Not Simple Matters

The Chief Deputy of Commission II of Parliament, Muhammad Lukman Edy, says that members of Commission II will ask candidates of the new members of Election Commission (KPU) and Election Monitoring Body (Bawaslu) about their commitment to implement e-voting for the upcoming 2019 National Elections.

As a response, the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) states that the implementation of e-voting technology cannot be decided simply by relying on the preparedness of the Technology Assessment and Implementation Institution (BPPT). According to Perludem, the use of information technology in elections should be decided according to the needs of the election management bodies. The purpose of implementing election technology is to facilitate the success of elections and to resolve problems that often occur during the electoral process.

“Members of Commission II should see this issue more clearly and comprehensively. It is very risky to implement e-voting based only on the preparedness of BPPT,” says a researcher from Perludem, Fadli Ramadhanil (02/03).

Fadli also says, it is not easy for members of Commission II to build trust from elections stakeholders, especially the public, in regards with the election result produced from e-voting technology. It will take a very long time to verify the votes and to detect any kind of fraud during the voting process.

“Using e-voting and e-counting in elections is not simple matters. The most vital question we should be asking is the readiness from the election management bodies. Who will be responsible if there is any problem occur during the election process?” Fadli asks.