Thread by @bobyandika

For a young democracy, I believe Indonesia has a pretty darn good system of elections:
a) Polling stations are easily accessible and can be found hundred of meters apart from one another-- compared to many other nations that require you to drive or travel quite far. #Pilpres2019

b) Government declares Election Day as a public holiday which allows people to take time off work/school to cast their votes-- compared to other countries that treats Election Day as any other day, making it harder for people to vote cos they can't miss work/classes.

c) It's harder to rig results cos there paper ballots (physical proof) and a transparent public vote count after polls close, to verify the validity and authenticity of each ballot cast-- compared with advanced democracies with electronic voting prone to hacking and manipulation.

d) All-in-one elections for Executive and Legislative branches, increasing voter turnout because people are more focused on this election cycle as a whole-- compared to sporadic elections where people just don't see the importance of voting because there's way too many of them.

e) Progressive election requirements such as mandating parties to have a minimum of 30% of women running as candidates in order to be eligible for the election-- compared to western nations claiming to be liberal and almighty but doesn't give women a seat at the table.

There are obvious logistical problems: the lack of ballots in many polling stations, confusions on voter registration data, and many Indonesian diasporas denied to vote abroad due to inefficiencies. One might also say that too many parties is bad cos difficult to distinguish.

But these things are so PALE in comparison to the shit we hear about voter suppression, gerrymandering, and election manipulation everywhere else. So all in all, what a good day to be the world's third largest democracy! <3

PS: this article demonstrated how incredible the efforts undertaken by many parties involved to ensure everyone gets the right to vote. Effing proud and humbled right now. :")
mothership.sg/2019/04/indone…