Citizens exercise their right to vote in the 2024 regional elections. Photo: Ricardo/JPNN
jpnn.comSUKABUMI – The General Election Commission (KPU) of Sukabumi City revealed the cause of the decline in the participation rate of the people of Sukabumi City, West Java, in the 2024 regional head election (Pilkada).
“Public participation in this year’s regional elections was only 70.16 percent or down 5.9 percent compared to 2018, when the level of public participation reached 76.4 percent,” said Sukabumi City KPU chairman Imam Sutrisno in Sukabumi, Sunday.
According to him, the factors causing the decline in public participation rates in the 2024 Pilkada include the large number of invitation forms (C6) that did not reach the public because when the voting organizer group (KPPS) officers visited their homes, they were not there or had left.
He said the C6 form was carried away by KPPS and was forgotten and not given to prospective voters. Then the distance between the 2024 General Election and the nearby 2024 Regional Head Election does not rule out the possibility that there will be residents who are bored of coming to the polling station (TPS).
Apart from that, there were also weather factors, such as heavy rain on the day of voting, so that residents preferred to stay at home rather than come to the polling station. Then the number of TPS decreased because during the election the TPS were closer to home, but during the regional election, the location of the TPS was further from people’s homes.
“There is no need for anyone to be blamed for the decline in the number of public participation. However, it remains an evaluation material for the party so that the number of public participation in the next election can increase,” he said.
Previously, in an open plenary meeting recapitulating the results of vote tallies at the Sukabumi City level, the total number of permanent voters (DPT) was 259,961 people. The number of DPT who exercised their right to vote was only 180,769 people.
Then added additional DPT (DPTb) and special voter list (DPK) so that the total number of citizens exercising their right to vote is 182,093.
The Sukabumi KPU revealed the reasons for the decline in public participation in the 2024 regional elections.