Voter: Watch out, a dawn raid. Sign reads Polling Both (TPS).
The election monitoring group the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) says it uncovered serious allegations of widespread money politics during the campaign and cooling off period prior to the November 27 election of regional heads (Pilkada) in North Sumatra, Central Java and Jakarta.
Although Perludem researcher Ajid Fuad Muzaki did not elaborate on the exact amounts of money involved, the group documented a number of different methods used to influence voters in each region.
"The money politics methods varied significantly across these regions", Muzaki said during a press conference on Perludem's findings in Jakarta the day after the elections.
Muzaki explained that they uncovered allegations of cash distribution through envelopes in both North Sumatra and Central Java during the final stages of the campaign with the sums ranging from 50,000 to 120,000 rupiah. These payments were intended to secure votes for specific gubernatorial and regency candidates.
In Central Java, Perludem found instances of religious organisations mobilising followers to vote for specific candidates through the distribution of gifts and rewards.
In Jakarta, the election watchdog found that money politics was carried out by providing transportation and meal allowances during large-scale campaign events, with payments disbursed afterward.
Another Perludem researcher, Haykal, uncovered instances of groceries and cash-filled envelopes bearing the attributes of specific candidates being discreetly distributed in the early morning or late evening – known colloquially as serangan fajar or "dawn raid".
Haykal added that money politics was also carried out through digital wallets and the deployment of officials to solicit votes for specific candidates.
Perludem's monitoring spanned 10 days and covered the six days of the campaign period, three days of the cooling off period and one day on voting day. Monitoring focused on North Sumatra, Central Java and Jakarta.
[Based on a November 28 article by Tempo titled "Perludem exposes widespread money politics in North Sumatra, Central Java, and Jakarta".]
