TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said the government continues to recommend the use of electronic voting system for the 2019 general elections.
This recommendation, he said, came after a coordination meeting to discuss the draft of the Election Implementation Law at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security's building.
According to Tjahjo, the government proposed the use of online voting to help the Election Committee (KPU) count the votes faster.
"We want e-voting," he said at Jakarta's Bidakara Hotel on Tuesday, September 20.
Tjahjo said that the e-voting technology was successfully used by the Philippines during their 2016 presidential elections, which elected Rodrigo Duterte. The technology, he said, was designed with the help of information technology experts from Indonesia.
"In just three hours, we can find out which presidential candidate is the winner," he said.
He said the development of e-voting technology, is already owned by the Technology Assessment and Application Agency (BPPT). The implementation of e-voting will shorten time to count votes as there will be no physical delivery of the voting papers and ballots from voting stations to the KPU's central office.
"The important things are accuracy and speed," said Tjahjo.
Earlier, KPU chairman Juri Ardiantoro rejected the application of e-voting and instead proposed to use online recapitulation system. He said that the design and implementation of e-recap is more realistic, whilst e-voting requires longer assessment and preparation period.
Juri also said that the public as well as election organizers may not be ready for online voting. Meanwhile, he said that e-recaps can be a solution to the security issues that have been creating disputes in past elections.
ARKHELAUS W
