The critical success factors of e-voting implementation in indonesian local elections: The case of jembrana regency election

Electronic voting (e-voting) brings the idea of modernising elections through electronic systems and provides many advantages such as efficiency, presenting results more quickly, and reducing cost. In early 21st century some countries such as India, Brazil, and Estonia have conducted research and implemented e-voting system. Meanwhile, the possibility of using e-voting for Pemilihan Umum (Indonesian General Election) is still under debate. Until 2010 the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs and Komisi Pemilihan Umum (The General Election Commision) refused the e-voting system which was offered by Badan Pengkajian dan Pengembangan Teknologi/BPPT (The Indonesian Agency for The Assessment and Application of Technology). Surprisingly, since 2009 Jembrana Regency, Bali Province, Indonesia has developed an e-voting system from a cafeteria order system. This system has been implemented for hamlets and villages' chief elections. The e-voting project which was held by The Local Government of Jembrana Regency and supported by BPPT is recorded as the first e-voting-based election in Indonesia. It has now become the approved-procedure of hamlet and villages' chief election. Technology-Indonesia News Portal reported that the e-voting project has been successful because people in Jembrana feel satisfied with its results and efficiency. The Public Relations Chief of Jembrana reported that e-voting saved 60% of the election budget, compared to the paper-based system. Another achievement reported by Bali Post was that no protest or conflict occured during e-voting-based elections. This demonstrates that well-developed e-voting systems can improve the democratic process, compared to Indonesian paper-based elections that sometimes cause conflicts and manipulated results. Many people are surprised that such a small regency could be so innovative. This paper focuses on how the Jembrana Regency implemented e-voting and identifies its critical success factors. The identification process was conducted by interviewing project teams and researching literature. An understanding of critical success factors of this e-voting project can provide useful information for the government and also help other regents/districts/provinces to build e-voting implementation strategies. Hopefully in the future, e-voting will be accepted as the official election procedure and bring high quality elections to the country.