Amid fears of electoral fraud in Indonesia’s presidential election, voters are using digital media to monitor the Election Commission’s tally process.
Singapore-based math wiz Ainun Najib has set up kawalpemilu.org, one of the public initiatives that has recently emerged to guard the counting process. Others include Kawalsuara and #CEKJanggalC1.
The Indonesia Election Commission makes all data from more than 400,000 polling stations available on its website. Volunteers can examine the vote tally forms for errors and report them to the commission. Through Facebook, kawalpemilu has attracted some 700 volunteers from all over the world.
Indonesian national Merlyna Lim, who investigates the use of digital media in populist movements, has joined the initiative.
The Conversation spoke with her to understand the public enthusiasm for guarding the election result and the developments that made this possible.