Serang Regency DPMD Prepares E-Voting Trial for 2027 Village Head Elections

Serang (ANTARA) - The Community and Village Empowerment Agency (DPMD) of Serang Regency is preparing for the simultaneous 2027 Village Head Elections (Pilkades) by piloting an electronic voting (e-voting) system in one to two villages.

Head of Serang Regency DPMD Rudi Suhartono said in Serang on Wednesday that the simultaneous village elections will involve 191 villages with a total budget allocation of Rp30.3 billion.

The e-voting pilot is planned to be carried out in one or two villages that are ready in terms of infrastructure.

“We will choose villages with good signal coverage, at least one or two villages in urban areas where residents are already familiar with technology,” said Rudi.

According to him, the implementation of e-voting aims to improve transparency whilst guaranteeing the principles of direct, general, free and secret suffrage (luber). Through the digital system, the potential for fraud is expected to be minimised because voting results are immediately locked into the system.

Rudi said that although the cost of renting the devices is relatively high, e-voting is more efficient and easier to administer than the conventional method using paper ballots.

To reduce procurement costs, the Serang Regency Government plans to rent devices from providers that already hold certification and recommendations from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to him, similar systems have been implemented in several regions such as Bekasi, Karawang and Indramayu.

Rudi explained that voters will still have to come to the polling station (TPS) and will not vote via mobile phone.

“Voters still come to the TPS and use a special device similar to an ATM machine. Voters will be given a chip card to insert into the voting machine,” he said.

The implementation of e-voting is estimated to require an additional budget of around Rp100 million to Rp200 million.

However, Rudi said this requirement could still be accommodated within the total budget ceiling of Rp30.3 billion that has been prepared.

As an initial step, the Serang Regency DPMD will present briefings and simulations to the Serang Regency Government and the Serang Regency Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).

Once an agreement is reached, socialisation will be carried out gradually to the public to build trust in the system.