KPK Pushes for E-Voting System to Address Fraud and High Election Costs

Jakarta, VIVA – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is pushing for the implementation of an electronic voting (e-voting) system to address fraud and the high costs of election campaigns by political parties (parpol).

Head of the Law Enforcement and Politics Task Force at KPK’s Monitoring Directorate, Kiagus Ibrahim, stated that the substantial expenses incurred by parties include costs for witnesses at polling stations.

“One party complained that they could prepare funds of around Rp1.2 trillion, which is enormous. This is what must be borne by the members participating in the elections,” said Kiagus during a public discussion at the Bawaslu RI Building, as reported by ANTARA on Thursday, 7 April 2026.

KPK described the high election costs as a vicious cycle that ultimately leads to corrupt practices.

He explained that one witness is paid around Rp250,000. For one election, political parties must deploy one to two witnesses in various regions, resulting in considerable expenses.

These witness costs could be eliminated, one way being by changing the voting system to electronic. Although potentially controversial, he suggested that the e-voting option be studied ahead of the 2029 elections.

Kiagus stated that the e-voting system is not as complex as imagined and has proven successful at the local level.

“We surveyed Bangka Regency, Yogyakarta. There, village head elections were held, but don’t think village heads are few. One sub-district there, called Caturtunggal Sub-district, has 70,000 household heads,” he said.

He continued, “Imagine 70,000 for one area like that; the data we have is equivalent to that in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, eastern regions. That means one village in Sleman can conduct elections electronically.”

He also dismissed public concerns regarding data security issues or hacking in the e-voting system.

“This is automatic counting at the location. So, it’s just clicked and the summary is immediate,” he said.

Based on KPK’s findings during the rerun regional election in Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung in 2024, potential fraud occurred during manual vote counting. Vote tallies were said to be manipulable.

“What is the end of this? The motive is giving money, so money politics. For that, we recommend conducting elections at least gradually in certain regions to carry out digital voting,” said Kiagus.