Recent months have seen a series of claims by political figures in Indonesia that the 2019 polls may be marked by significant irregularities. Senior political party figures and social media influencers have claimed that the electoral roll has been manipulated or could be hacked, cast doubt over the likely reliability of the vote count, and claimed that the civil service and security forces are being mobilised in support of particular candidates. These claims have come in particular from figures within the coalition supporting Prabowo Subianto, the challenger to President Joko Widodo. Is there evidence to support these claims? What safeguards are in place for the Indonesian polls? What role will civil society, electoral bodies and the government play in ensuring a fair election?

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, the latest in the weekly Elections 2019 series that will continue until after polling day on 17 April, Dr Dave McRae discusses these issues with Titi Anggraini, executive director of the Association for Elections and Democracy, Perludem, and Dr Fritz Edward Siregar, a commissioner from Indonesia’s Elections Supervisory Board, Bawaslu.

The Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast weekly until after the elections, an every fortnight thereafter.

Photo credit: Galih Pradipta for Antara Foto