Teachers Encouraged to Exercise their Voting Rights
Abstention always exists in every general election. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), there were 34.75 million Indonesian citizens who did not exercise their voting rights in the 2019 elections. This number is equivalent to 18.02% of the total number of citizens that were registered in the 2019 elections’ permanent voter list of 192.77 million people.
By region, West Java is the province with the highest abstention rate. The data showed that citizens who did not cast their votes showed the highest rate in this province, with the number recorded at 5.8 million people or 17.43% of the total voters in West Java.
Following West Java, Central Java ranked second with 5.52 million abstentions of voting, or accounted for 19.79% of the total voters, while East Java sat in third place with an abstention rate of 17.47% or 5.4 million people.
The number of abstention votes in North Sumatra and Jakarta was 2.14 million (21.97%) and 1.33 million (17.21%) respectively. Banten province also showed a quite high level of abstention, reaching 1.32 million people or 16.29%, followed by Lampung with 1.17 million abstention votes or 19.4%. Meanwhile, Indonesians living abroad who did not cast their ballots amounted to 1.14 million people or 57.46%.
Although the abstention rate has decreased compared to the previous elections, the number is still relatively large. There are 34 million citizens who are reluctant to exercise their voting rights. They have varied reasons, but many of them are apathetic about general elections. Some think that casting their votes is not useful, and some consider that elections are merely seasonal ceremonies that never change their fate.
Of course, this phenomenon should not be allowed to keep happening in the future. There must be a better political education for the people. The Branch Management Board of the Communication Forum of Diniyah Takmiliyah (FKDT) in Brebes Regency, Central Java, has carried out its efforts in providing education on politics and general elections. They encouraged all teachers of Madrasah Diniyah (madin) Islamic Schools to exercise their political rights in the election.
Chairman of the Brebes FKDT, Akhmad Sururi, asked all madin teachers, especially in the Larangan subdistrict, to ensure that their names are included in the permanent voter list. They should not let themselves get left behind in the 2024 elections just because they were not registered in the voter data. Or else, they might be included in the data, but they intentionally refuse to cast their votes.
He also encouraged the teachers to become pioneers or ambassadors to invite their neighbors or their surrounding community to use their voting rights. The community must be invited to jointly pay attention and follow the election process, starting from data collection by the officers who handle voter data updates until the final phase of the elections that will be held in February 2024.
(cbm-news.com/2023/02/ketua-fkdt-brebes-mengajak-seluruh-guru).
The same thing was also carried out at the meeting of the heads of madin at Madrasah Raudlatul Mutaalimin, Pejagan, in Tanjung District, Brebes Regency. The speaker was the representative of FKDT’s Information and Communication Department, Rosid, S.S.
He highlighted that the use of voting rights in elections determines the future of the nation. The future of the nation depends on, among others, the result of the election. If people choose the wrong leader, it is like strangling themselves unconsciously. For this reason, the participation of ustaz or asatiz is crucial, both to exercise their voting rights and to encourage people to be aware of the importance of casting votes.
"The participation of asatiz is very important because, in addition to being community leaders, they are also role models. Whatever they say can be used as a reference for the community. Therefore, the active role of the religious figures will be impactful in increasing the number of voters in the next election," he said on Monday, February 13, 2023.
(dpc-fkdtbrebes.or.id/hak-pilih-dalam-pemilu-penentu-masa-depan-bangsa).
Electoral discussions were also held in several other areas, such as in Aceh with the theme "Empowered Citizens as the Pioneers of Honest and Fair Elections". The discussion was held in collaboration with NGO Flower Aceh and took place at the NGO's office on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
Ihan Nurdin, coordinator of Citizen Journalism Banda Aceh, said the public discussion was attended by eleven participants from various backgrounds and organizations, such as housewives, teachers at special schools, lecturers, journalists, community representatives, NGO activists, social activists, and representatives of the Chinese community in Banda Aceh.
The speakers were commissioners of the Aceh Independent Election Commission (KIP), Tgk. Akmal Abzal, and Executive Director of NGO Flower Aceh, Riswati. Akmal Abzal conveyed information related to the latest stages of organizing elections in Aceh, which has reached the stage of announcing the results of the verification of candidates for the Regional representative COuncil (DPD) RI.
The discussion began with a sharing session to provide opportunity for participants to share their experiences related to electoral issues in Aceh.
One of the participants, Sheilisa, Head of Banda Aceh Methodist Junior High School, expressed her opinion that every citizen needs to participate in elections. However, the problems faced by the community are sometimes not accommodated by the candidates, thus failing to meet the expectations of the community. However, like it or not, they eventually have to vote because they are the supporters of the party.
(perempuanleuser.com/ppmn-perludem-gelar-diskusi-publik-kepemiluan-di-banda-aceh)
