Jakarta. The 2024 Jakarta gubernatorial election recorded the lowest voter turnout in the city’s history of direct elections, with abstention levels soaring to unprecedented heights. The lack of public engagement has raised alarms about the growing disconnect between Jakarta’s electorate and its political elites.

Of the 8,214,007 registered voters on Jakarta’s final voter list, only an estimated 50-60 percent cast their ballots. This political participation is a decline from the 65 percent turnout recorded in the 2007 and 2012 elections and a far cry from the 78 percent participation in 2017. Wahyu Dinata, the head of Jakarta’s General Elections Commission, confirmed the drop in engagement. “Our initial monitoring shows participation is hovering around 50 to 60 percent, significantly lower than previous elections,” he said on Thursday.

Analysts attribute the voter apathy to a mix of frustration with the available candidates and disillusionment with the election process. John Muhammad, founder of the Salam 4 Jari—a political movement encouraging people to abstain from voting—described the situation as a form of electoral rebellion. He pointed to the rise in protest voting, with 8.6 percent of ballots deliberately invalidated by voters marking all three candidates. These 412,324 spoiled votes nearly rivaled the support garnered by independent candidate Dharma Pongrekun, who secured only 458,147 votes.

The overall voter participation, according to Salam 4 Jari, reached just 58 percent, leaving over 3.4 million registered voters abstaining. Combined with the protest votes, over half of Jakarta’s electorate—3.86 million voters—effectively rejected the election. This figure outpaced the 2.17 million votes cast for the winning pair, Pramono Anung-Rano Karno, underscoring the scale of public discontent.

John argued that Jakarta’s voters have grown increasingly critical of candidates they see as uninspiring or disconnected from their aspirations. He also blamed the election process itself, which he said was marred by perceived political maneuvering. “Voters are sending a clear signal that they’re dissatisfied with the choices presented to them. Many feel the candidates do not reflect their hopes, and there’s been a lingering sentiment that the process has been orchestrated from the start,” he said.

Political observers echoed these concerns, pointing to key factors that dampened voter enthusiasm. Efriza, a political analyst from the Citra Institute, said that the absence of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as a candidate left many voters disillusioned.

“There’s a perception that political gamesmanship sidelined Anies, and this has left a bitter taste,” she said, adding that the three remaining tickets failed to capture the public’s support.

Anies, whose reelection bid failed due to a lack of support from any major political party, threw his support to Pramono. Anies, who led the city from 2017 to 2022, said he believed Pramono would carry on his policies in Jakarta.

Rumors surrounding controversial rulings by the Constitutional Court and dissatisfaction with political parties’ candidate selections also compounded voter apathy. “The combination of these factors has left voters unmotivated and unwilling to participate,” Efriza concluded.

The election results not only spotlight Jakarta’s shifting political dynamics but also signal a broader challenge for Indonesia’s democracy: how to rebuild trust and re-engage a frustrated electorate. For now, the numbers tell a story of public discontent in the capital city.