Want a Cleaner Government? Here's What You Can Do to Keep Corrupt Officials Away From the Elections

Indonesia is full of seemingly simple rules few people actually follow—wear a helmet when you're on a motorbike, don't jaywalk when crossing the street, ask to see ID before selling someone a pack of cigarettes. Now, you can add one more rule no one wants to follow to that list—don't run for office if you have a corruption conviction.

The elections commission (KPU) passed the rule barring corruption convicts from running in an election right after last June's regional elections. It's pretty simple, and it makes a lot of sense—if someone was already convicted once of stealing money while in office, why would anyone believe they wouldn't do it again?

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives (DPR) were quick to protest the move, claiming that it violates their rights as citizens living in a democratic nation. That opposition isn't really all that much of a surprise—the DPR was named the nation's most-corrupt institution after all—but it also tells us how deep graft runs through the veins of our public institutions. I mean, why else would anyone be so opposed to barring corrupt officials from office?

Watch: Exiled Chinese Billionaire Uses YouTube To Wage A War On Corruption

The DPR plans to fight the ban in the courts, but the elections commission—the KPU—refuses to budge, and President Joko Widodo says he's in favor of the plan. And corrupt politicians? They're ignoring it outright. More than 200 ex-cons have registered for next year's legislative elections, all of them receiving the support of political parties who seem convinced as well that the new rule is one of those rules we don't have to follow. The largest percentage of those came from the Gerindra Party, led by presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto, but nearly every other party was just as guilty of breaking the rules.

In fact, the only political party to not nominate a graft-tainted candidate is also one of Indonesia's youngest: the Solidarity Party Indonesia (PSI)—so maybe the new kids on the block can teach the old timers a thing or two about clean governance.

The elections supervisory agency (Bawaslu) has already tagged 207 candidates so far as ineligible to run because of prior criminal records. Afifuddin, of Bawaslu, told the press that all political parties had signed an "integrity pact," before the nomination period promising only field "clean" candidates in the coming election.

So why so many clearly corrupt candidates? The parties claimed they either didn't know these people had corruption records or that they "accidentally missed," the corruption conviction when checking the candidate's credentials. This is despite the fact that some parties openly stated that they planned to run former corruption convicts in the coming elections, regardless of the rule.

So maybe none of these officials are all that trustworthy in the first place.

These political parties are supposed to "filter" out possible leaders from the rest of us. It should be safe to assume that their candidates are interested in working for the better of the nation.

But that's not how it works in Indonesia. It's easy to feel helpless and jaded with the entire election when the papers carry stories about our political parties trying to actively field ineligible candidates in the election. But don't feel discouraged, you can still do something to ensure that these corruptors stay the hell away from public office.

Nationwide, there are more than 200,000 candidates running in the 2019 legislative race. That's a lot of candidates to check when parties are trying to slide corruptors in under the radar. Bawaslu and the KPU are still cross-checking the candidates list with the Supreme Court and the anti-graft agency (KPK), so there's a chance the number of ex-cons in the race will only in the coming weeks.

But the KPU has also asked the public for their help. Local voters know their own news better than someone sitting in Jakarta, so you all might know better than anyone whether someone is corrupt. What can you do to help? We asked Titi Anggraini, of the elections watchdog Perludem to help us out. Here's what she had to say:

“The key is to have a sense of concern and curiosity,” Titi said. “Look for information about who is competing to be a legislative member from your area."

The preliminary candidates list (DCS) will be released this month, but the KPU still haven't released the candidates’ background records, despite Bawaslu’s request.

“It’s still a question to us why the KPU hasn't released the track records,” Titi said, explaining that official track records are incredibly when it comes to vetting potential candidates.

But Titi also said that citizens could look elsewhere for this information as well. Sometimes asking around can even uncover stuff that's not in the missing background checks.

“Even then [the background documents] are not necessarily a real ‘background check’," Titi told VICE. It’s more like a CV or a biography, because it is written by the candidates themselves."

It's important to cross-check what the candidates submit with what others have written or said about the candidate. Don't believe everything you read right away.

OK, so what do you do if you find something suspicious? Well, sadly, there's no real way to report your findings to the KPU online, but you can write a letter (the contact info is here), or even just visit your local KPU office in person (because who doesn't want to see the fruits of their labors in person).

But, more importantly, you need to be committed to getting your concerns heard, because it's not like any of this is going to be easy, Titi explained.

"All this time, citizens are reluctant to report [to the KPU] because they feel like they rarely hear back," she said. "This is something the KPU needs to fix."

And while the KPU has, in the past, been slow at following up on these kinds of allegations, it's higher-ups promise that they will take all reports of corruption issues seriously

"If any member of the public informs us that there are ex-corruptors who made it through the verification process, then should inform us because local residents know their own candidates best," Arief Budiman, the chairman of the KPU, told Kompas Newspaper. "If a report is made, we will investigate it."

Still, the most important way to keep corrupt officials out of office is also the easiest—don't vote for them.

“The most important thing, I believe, is our awareness as a voter," Titi told VICE. "We shouldn't choose poorly."

So many parts of the elections process are flawed. The KPU and Bawaslu aren't as responsive as they should be. Necessary information about the candidates' backgrounds might be kept from the voters. The official watchdog organizations tend to be more concerned with the actual elections day and the voting systems than the candidates themselves.

But the best part about a democracy is that it still comes down to the voters themselves. So get yourself knowledgable before its time to vote if you want a cleaner government.