Obeying Health Protocol is the Key to Successful Implementation of 2020 Regional Election
By: Rahmat Soleh )*
The Covid-19 pandemic did indeed change many national events such as the PON to the simultaneous election of 270 regional elections, which had been delayed for 3 months due to the pandemic. The quality of the implementation of the democratic party is also determined by the compliance of the public and organizers in the implementation of the health protocol.
RI Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) member Mochammad Afifudin in a virtual discussion said, we need to implement a health protocol so that it becomes a condition for simultaneous local elections from those previously postponed.
According to him, almost all stages of the elections there are provisions for the application of health protocols. This is a new regulation from the long history of Indonesian democracy.
This democratic party took place in the midst of an abnormal situation so all parties needed to take care of their health during this process. All parties must remain optimistic and introspective in running and following the 2020 elections.
Afifudin also explained that this condition was indeed not ideal, but it did not rule out the possibility that the implementation of the elections could proceed as expected.
He is of the opinion, coordination between agencies becomes an important part so that the provisions as an election objective can be achieved. For example, he cited the KPU and Bawaslu in the regions as having strong communication with the co-19 countermeasure task force to obtain rapid logistical tests.
Officers in the field must be proven healthy with negative evidence through rapid tests. Although this takes time and money, close collaboration between agencies can be overcome.
He concluded, to break through the implementation of the elections is the application of health protocols. If this can be done there is no reason that the elections will not be carried out.
If you look in the mirror at several countries that carry out democratic parties, of course the results are very varied. In South Korea, for example, the country of ginseng has proven successful in holding elections because of people’s trust and compliance in implementing health protocols.
Besides relying on the implementation of the health protocol, he said the quality of the elections this time was also determined by suppressing any potential violations. Bawaslu has warned with data about the election vulnerability index.
He also explained that currently there is an additional potential, namely the red zone that leads to black also influences the vulnerability of the elections. Because there is a potential for these conditions to be utilized by incumbents by politicizing aid.
On a different occasion, the chairman of the General Election Commission (KPU) Arief Budiman stated that his party had compiled a technical plan for the corona virus health protocol (covid-19) for the stage of voting in the Simultaneous Election 2020 on 9 December.
He explained that the voting process would not be much different from the implementation of the elections in previous years. However, voting in the 2020 elections is required to implement co-19 preventive health protocols.
He explained that in the upcoming 2020 elections, voters are required to wash their hands using running water and soap that has been provided by officers. If the area is difficult to water, then it will provide a hand sanitizer.
After that, voters are required to wear masks when they come to polling stations. Voters who come will also be checked by his body temperature. After that the voters will be given disposable gloves before entering the polling station. This aims to maintain hand hygiene and avoid the spread of viruses.
After voting, the voters will be asked by TPS officers to throw plastic gloves into the trash. Only then will voters be given the ink that they have voted. Giving this ink is not by dipping a finger like the previous year, the officer will then elect the voters with ink dripped using a pipette.
In addition, the KPU also ensured that TPS officers continued to implement strict health protocols. It will equip TPS officers with rubber gloves, face shields, masks, hand sanitizers to vitamins to support immunity.
Arief explained that the health protocol was used to maintain public confidence during the 2020 elections while also ensuring the sense of security of the people in exercising their right to vote without fearing the threat of corona virus transmission.
Election is a must for a country that adheres to a democratic system. Therefore we have an important role in implementing health protocols when we vote on 9 December.
)* The author is a contributor of Reader Institute