RECRUITMENT MODELS OF INDEPENDENT ELECTION ORGANIZING INSTITUTION IN YOGYAKARTA SPECIAL REGION

Abstract

The quality of elections is highly determined by the election organizers which consist of Election Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum) and Election Supervision Agency (Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum) who must be independent and have high integrity. Therefore, permanent recruitment of election organizers must be perfect due to the significant impact on the quality of elections. The research aims to identify the issues of the recent recruitment model as well as formulate an ideal model of recruitment of permanent election organizers in Yogyakarta Special Region that guarantees the independence and integrity of the election organizers. The method applied is a qualitative research design using observation, depth interviews and focus group discussion for collecting data. The results show that the recruitment model of election organizers is regulated in three Laws, First, the Law No.12 of 2008 which shows the recruitment process still involved executive power; Second, the Law No. 15 of 2011 shows a better model; and in the Law No.7 of 2017 is quite ideal, which are indicated by the existence of public involvement in the recruitment process. However, there are several issues, such as: First, the difficulty to find an ideal candidates who have high integrity, high quality and comprehension of electoral skills; should be solved by an open recruitment using both of the CAT system and written documents to ensure that candidates for election management have good theoretical and practical skills; Second, the need of Provincial Election Committee and Provincial Election Supervisory Body involvement in selecting the candidates of Regency / City level election organizers; Third, the need of public awareness on the Election Organizing Institution as an independent and professional institution, so that political preferences can be suppressed. Keywords: Election, Election Organizing Institution, Recruitment