IFES - International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Published purpose

The project aims to increase the credibility and effectiveness of elections in Indonesia ahead of the next national elections in 2019, benefitting up to 186 million registered voters. It seeks to strengthen the legal framework and the ability of Indonesia election authorities to administer future elections, reduce election-related violence and increase the participation of women, youth and marginalized groups in the electoral process. The project integrates lessons learned from the 2014 national elections into the next election cycle (2014–2019), most importantly into the new legislature’s deliberations on the fundamental electoral legal framework reform. Project activities are implemented countrywide with a special focus on areas of greatest risk for contested or violent elections, such as Aceh and Eastern Indonesia. Project activities include: (1) providing technical assistance to legislators and civil society on how to prepare and support reforms to elections laws; (2) training women leaders and conducting advocacy campaigns to increase the number of women in the election commission and in political representation; (3) training election management personnel to improve access for voters with disabilities; (4) assisting the election commission with upgrades to key systems and databases such as the voter registration list; (5) developing voter education campaigns and social media tools to inform the electorate (in particular youth, women and marginalized groups) about voting rights, the process and the importance of participation.