Women on 2019 Election: Target Segments and Challenges of Representation

Women voters became a primadona for contestants in Pemilu Serentak which held in April 2019. Many candidates, both candidates in the race for legislative and executive seats, took into account the women segment as their target voter group. The methods were used very diverse, ranging from carrying issues that closed to women's daily lives, visiting women's groups to interact directly, to sharing some items of women's needs. That was caused the number of women’s voters is very significant, even in Daftar Pemilih Tetap (DPT) women voters are more numerous than male’s voters. The opposite condition seen in the legislative candidate list Daftar Calon Tetap (DCT) where the number of women candidates is more smaller than male candidates. The worse condition was seen in the number of women elected in the last three elections, even though the quota system has been implemented.

Voice and Women Contestants

Data based on Daftar Pemilih Tetap (DPT) were published by Komisi Pemilihan Umum  (KPU) stated that the number of women voters in Pemilu 2019 reached 92,929,422 of the total registered voters on the Permanent Voter List (185,732,093 people). Women voters, 126,751 more than male voters counted 92,802,671 people. When viewed as a percentage, the number of women voters is 50.03%, while male voters are 49.97%.

What can be underlined from the data above, in terms of voting rights holders, there are more women voters than men. What if seen from the contestants? How do you compare the number of male and women candidates in the 2019 elections at the national level? Based on data that Daftar Calon Tetap (DCT) DPR RI indicated that the number of women candidates is smaller than male candidates. Total candidates who competed for the DPR’s seats were 7,968 people. A total of 4,774 people or equivalent to 59.91% of them were men. While contestant women are only 40.09% or 3,194 people. The data can be seen as a pretty good number when referring to the women's quota in the candidate list. The figure of 40.09% is certainly above the 30% quota for women mandated by law. However, if the number of women candidates is compared to the number of women voters, the percentage of candidates is not the same as the percentage of voters. The summary of the data presented above can be seen in the graph below:

Percentage of DPR RI Candidates and All Indonesian Voters in Pemilu 2019 based on Gender

Voice and Contestants of Women in Bali

The conditions that was not much different from national conditions are reflected through the data on the percentage of voters based on gender above, seen in Bali. The number of women voters in Bali is greater than the number of male voters. Of the 3,030,657 voters in the 2019 Election DPT in Bali, 1,516,786 were women. That number is equivalent to 50.05% of the total voters. However, the number of women candidates who competed for the seats in the DPRD of the Province of Bali was only 38.94%. Data about this is illustrated in the graph below:

Percentage of Candidates for Bali Provincial DPRD and Voters in Bali in Pemilu 2019 based on Gender

In terms of percentage, the number of women candidates in Bali in 2019 has indeed met the 30% quota. Furthermore, what needs to be noted is the low electability of women in legislative bodies at all levels in Bali, even though women's quota regulations have been applied since 2004. Data from the Puskapol Universitas Indonesia (UI) regarding the percentage of women at Indonesia's provincial representative institutions in 2014 ranked Bali as the third-lowest province in women's representation in regional legislative institutions. The low representation of women in regional legislative bodies (below 10%) were also a note for Bali in the latest Indeks Demokrasi Indoensia (IDI) published by  BAPPENAS. One of the homeworks for Bali is increasing the representation of women in the local parliament.

If we look at data from a 2016 survey which tries to see the tendency of Balinese voters to elect women candidates in the previous election, it seems that homework related to increasing the number of women representatives is still difficult even though the number of women voters is higher than men and structural barriers are eroded through various the rules. Because the survey found that voters in Bali who claimed to elect women candidates in the 2014 election were only around 4%. This data was taken two years after the 2014 election with a sample of 800 voters spread across all districts / cities in Bali and MoE of 3%. The data also shows that 57% of voters claimed to vote for male candidates in the 2014 legislative election. 32% said they forgot, and 7% said they did not vote. The data is presented in the diagram below.

Survey Results  (2016) Regarding Gender from Respondent's Choice Candidates at Bali in Pemilu Legislatif 2014

Furthermore, the data above is cross tabulated with the gender of the voters and obtained figures as in the table below. Data shows that both male and women voters tend to vote for male candidates in the 2014 elections in Bali.

Many observers have pointed out the reasons why women's electability remains low despite the quota on the candidate list. For the case of Bali, cultural barriers become the dominant explanation, where gender stereotype is one part of the factor. Voters tend to attach politics to masculine traits. Gender stereotypes are relatively difficult to change, but can be handled by women candidates. The choice of campaign issues, such as education, health, environment and prices of staples, are alternatives that can be taken. Direct contact with constituents and the empowerment of women's groups can also be an option. The expected result is a shift in data from 2016, so that the tendency of Balinese to choose women candidates in the legislative election increases. Do not let women only be large as a target segment, but small in representation.