By: Maya Naura Lingga )*
The general election (Pemilu) is a democratic party that is always warm in various discussion rooms, from officials to the grassroots who are talking in coffee shops, the topic of elections never seems to be stale to just be discussed. Young people, who make up 60% of the total voters, are the party’s target to gain votes. It’s only natural that today’s young people are able to become influences for society, the existence of young people is important in efforts to make elections successful.
2024 will be a warm year for politicians, legislative candidates from various parties will fight for seats in parliament. The presidential candidates will compete with each other for ideas for the sustainability of Indonesia in the future. Social media will be boisterous with various tweets and opinions.
Young people have an important role to play in maintaining the conduciveness of elections, skepticism is not necessarily a practical solution. Because 5 minutes in the voting booth will also have an impact on 5 years of the destiny of the Indonesian nation.
The momentum for the 2024 Election should encourage youth to take part through their active role in the field. Youth need to take a role in order to create and succeed in the desire for a healthy democracy, instead of standing idly by because they feel that youth voices are the voice of the majority.
With the energy that is still vibrant, youth can involve themselves as organizers of elections at various levels, starting from the regional level to the village level. The benefits that can be obtained are empirical and technical knowledge regarding the administration of elections.
Young people will know how the difficulties they face in the field as election organizers. By involving themselves as election organizers they will also realize that working as an organizer is not as easy as it looks. In addition, young people should feel ashamed if in the field there are still election organizers who are dominated by the generation over 40.
Moreover, the 2024 election will be an election that will elect the President, DPR, DPD, Provincial DPRD and Regency/City DPRD. The elections which took place simultaneously certainly demanded speed and work efficiency which required the youth to have excellent physique. Through their role as election administrators, youth are ready to become an integral part of the democratic process.
In addition, young people can also actively become election educators to the public. This role can be realized by youths by establishing independent democratic institutions or election monitors. This is intended so that there are youths who are outside the circle of mutual support between candidates. In this way, young people can take a distance to see various dynamics and political realities clearly.
Young people will also see the dynamics that occur during elections from various perspectives. All of these roles are expected to form the side of idealism as an expression that is identical and inherent in the younger generation amidst the challenges and dynamics of the political year. Moreover, the fact that the majority of voters are pinned by the millennial group and generation Z also makes these two groups eyeballed by many parties.
Challenges and temptations may also arise, political elites may take advantage of the election momentum to drive political statements, so that young people will be involved in political amplification that deliberately narrows the point of view and objectivity of first-time voters. Because after all, youth, especially first-time voters, do not yet have a solid footing.
Young people who still lack the salt and salt of political life must be aware that they will be bombarded with various news without having to look for it. Its social media homepage will be colored with various party posters as well as fantastic news which will make social media even hotter. The debate in the comments column will be increasingly fierce, the involvement of young people in the battle for letters in the comments column will of course be something that is difficult to avoid.
With all their idealism, young people need to realize that as the political year progresses, subjectivity towards political figures is unavoidable. Youth must consciously understand that the political year is a period in which many social dynamics occur in various sectors. Various forms of support or rejection will occur in many places.
Young people are considered a wetland to gain votes by politicians, moreover not many young people are directly involved in becoming part of a political party. So that young people are considered as people who can be led to provide support to certain parties. Therefore, young people must be able to think critically, do not let them vote because political actors are giving them money.
In political contestation, youth can take on various roles, they can even become part of the legislative nomination. This shows that youth also have a role in the success of the 2024 elections.
)* The author is a contributor to Nusantara Reading Room
