Electoral System

General features

Indonesia has different electoral systems for its different institutions: a two-round majority system for its presidential elections and a one-round proportional system for its lower and upper houses of parliament.

Elected institutions

Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat - House of Representatives

Fundamentals

Name of Institution: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (Bahasa Indonesia), People's Representative Council (English)
Type of Institution: Lower House of Bicameral Parliament
Frequency of elections: Every 5 years

Legal & Administrative issues

Legal Framework for elections

Constitution: Chapter 3, Constitution of 1945
Electoral Legislation: Electoral law of 1999
Party Law: Political parties law 2/2008

Electoral management bodies:

Body in charge of election process: National Election Commission (KPU) and Elections Monitoring Body (Bawaslu)
Body responsible for definitive results: National Election Commission (KPU)
Body responsible for appeals & complaints: National Election Commission (KPU)
Body in charge of accepting candidates: National Election Commission (KPU)
Vacancies arising between general elections are filled by a person chosen by the former Representative's party

The vote

Voting system: Proportional
Method of seat allocation: Largest Remainder Method using the Hare Quota
Electoral threshold: 2.5 percent of total votes
Balloting procedure: Marked ballot

Candidates & Districts

Number of elected officials & mode of designation: 560, directly elected
Mode of candidacy: Open party lists
Constituencies: 77 multi-member constituencies
District magnitude: Number of seats per district ranges between 3 and 10. The mode is 8 and the median 7.
Reserved seats for a group of people: not applicable
Electoral campaign: The length of the campaign varies, depending on the dictates of the National Election Commission

Eligibility

Entitlement to vote - voter eligibility

Requirements: age: 17 years or more, Indonesian citizenship, registration on the electoral roll
Disqualifications: insanity, ex-members of the prohibited Indonesian Communist Party or affiliated mass organisations, direct or indirect involvement in the attempted Communist coup of 1965, imprisonment or confinement of at least five years' duration, members of the armed forces

Entitlement to stand - candidate eligibility

Requirements: age: 21 years or more, be qualified electors, loyalty to Pancasila as the basic ideology of the State, proficiency in Indonesian language, graduation from a secondary high school or equivalent knowledge
Candidacy requirements:Submission of candidates by political parties (independent candidates are not allowed). Political parties which contested the previous elections are automatically qualified to endorse candidates while other parties must submit to the scrutiny of the General Election Commission.
Disqualifications: mental incapacitation, non-fulfillment of any of the voter requirements
Incompatibilities: Members of the armed forces (to elected seats) and civil servants

Last elections: 2014 legislative elections

Dewan Perwakilan Daerah - House of Regional Representatives

Fundamentals

Name of Institution: Dewan Perwakilan Daerah (Bahasa Indonesia), House of Regional Representatives (English)
Type of Institution: Upper House of Bicameral Parliament
Frequency of elections: Every 5 years

Legal & Administrative issues

Legal Framework for elections

Constitution: Chapter 3, Constitution of 1945
Electoral Legislation: Electoral law of 1999
Party Law: Political parties law 2/2008

Electoral management bodies:

Body in charge of election process: National Election Commission (KPU) and Elections Monitoring Body (Bawaslu)
Body responsible for definitive results: National Election Commission (KPU)
Body responsible for appeals & complaints: National Election Commission (KPU)
Body in charge of accepting candidates: National Election Commission (KPU)

Vacancies:

The vote

Voting system: Proportional
Method of seat allocation (in proportional systems only): single non-transferable vote
Electoral threshold (in proportional systems only): 2.5%
Balloting procedure: Marked ballot
Others: NA

Candidates & Districts

Number of elected officials & mode of designation: 132 directly elected representatives
Mode of candidacy: open lists
Constituencies: 33 multi-member districts, corresponding with the 33 provinces of Indonesia
District magnitude: 4 seats per district
Reserved seats for a group of people: Not applicable
Electoral campaign: The length of the campaign varies, depending on the dictates of the National Election Commission

Eligibility

Entitlement to vote - voter eligibility

Requirements: age: 17 years or more, Indonesian citizenship, registration on the electoral roll
Disqualifications: insanity, ex-members of the prohibited Indonesian Communist Party or affiliated mass organisations, direct or indirect involvement in the attempted Communist coup of 1965, imprisonment or confinement of at least five years' duration, members of the armed forces

Entitlement to stand - candidate eligibility

Requirements: age: 21 years or more, be qualified electors, loyalty to Pancasila as the basic ideology of the State, proficiency in Indonesian language, graduation from a secondary high school or equivalent knowledge
Disqualifications: mental incapacitation, non-fulfillment of any of the voter requirements
Incompatibilities: Members of the armed forces, civil servants

Last elections: 2014 elections

Presidency of the Republic

Fundamentals

Name of Institution: Presiden Republik Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia) & Presidency of the Indonesian Republic (English)
Type of Institution: Presidency
Frequency of elections: Every 5 years

Legal & Administrative issues

Legal Framework for elections

Constitution: Chapter 3, Constitution of 1945
Electoral Legislation: Electoral law of 1999
Party Law: Political parties law 2/2008

Electoral management bodies:

Body in charge of election process: National Election Commission (KPU) and Elections Monitoring Body (Bawaslu)
Body responsible for definitive results: National Election Commission (KPU)
Body responsible for appeals & complaints: National Election Commission (KPU)
Body in charge of accepting candidates: National Election Commission (KPU)

Vacancies:

The vote

Voting system: Majority, two-round system
Method of seat allocation (in proportional systems only): Not applicable
Electoral threshold (in proportional systems only): Not applicable
Balloting procedure: Marked ballot

Candidates & Districts

Number of elected officials & mode of designation: Two: President and Vice-President, directly elected. Under the current law, political parties must have at least 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives or win 25 percent of the votes in the legislative election in order to be eligible to nominate a presidential candidate.
Mode of candidacy: Presidential ticket of presidential and vice-presidential candidate
Constituencies: Single national constituency
District magnitude: Not applicable
Reserved seats for a group of people: Not applicable
Electoral campaign: The length of the campaign varies, depending on the dictates of the National Election Commission

Eligibility

Entitlement to vote - voter eligibility

Requirements: age: 17 years or more, Indonesian citizenship, registration on the electoral roll
Disqualifications: insanity, ex-members of the prohibited Indonesian Communist Party or affiliated mass organisations, direct or indirect involvement in the attempted Communist coup of 1965, imprisonment or confinement of at least five years' duration, members of the armed forces

Entitlement to stand - candidate eligibility

Requirements: Believe in the one and only God;an Indonesian citizen since his/her birth, who has not willingly become a citizen of another nation;has not betrayed the nation, and has not been involved in any corruption or other criminal activity;physically and mentally capable of performing the duties;a permanent resident in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia;already reported his/her wealth to the Corruption Eradication Commission;has no debt individually or collectively that can create a loss for the state;has not been declared bankrupt by a court decision;never been involved in any despicable act;registered as a voter;registered as the tax payer and already paid taxes for at least the last five years;faithful to Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, and the vision of the Indonesian Declaration of Independence;never sentenced to the jail for more than five years;not be less than 35 years of age;attended school at least to the Senior High School or other at the same level;have a vision, mission, and programs to execute the office of President.disqualifications: have been a member of the Communist Party of Indonesia or the mass organization of that party and never served as President for two terms previously.

Last elections: 2014 elections - only one round was needed.