E-voting Indonesia: Framing the research

Indonesia had only conducted two direct presidential elections in 2004 and 2009, respectively. Despite all the problems, it is understood that the country is trying hard to improve the quality of its elections, which includes using electronic voting (e-voting). However, the claim on how Indonesia is ready to implement e-voting in its presidential election is considered baseless, or at least is believed to be premature. There are many issues that need to be firstly addressed, such as infrastructure unreadiness, people's reluctance to accept the technology, and lacks of standard and framework prior to the implementation; before jumping into conclusion that the country needs the technology. This paper argues on the needs for a thorough study on e-voting and serves as a preliminary towards a standard and framework for implementing the technology in Indonesia. It looks at the problems lingering the country's previous elections and the issues with implementing e-voting in Indonesia. This paper suggests that such study should see through the perspective of development research. Finally, it proposes a framework that urges the application of participatory processes and promotes iterative development work.