Wasted Votes and Political Representation: Analysis of the Implementation ofParliamentary Thresholds in the 2019 Legislative Elections

ABSTRACT :: As a country that adheres to a democratic system, Indonesia is faced with two major challenges simultaneously. On the one hand, as a nation, Indonesia must be able to act as a comfortable “home” for all existing diversity. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Indonesia must also be able to manage an effective (as well as efficient) political system institutionally. One way to ensure that pluralistic values remain but remain effective and efficient is to implement a parliamentary threshold of 4%. However, like a double-edged sword, the trend of increasing PT (2.5 to 4 percent) from election to election is feared to threaten the principle of political representation with high levels of wasted votes. Using qualitative methods, this research calculates the loss of votes as an impact of the implementation of the parliamentary threshold and also its impact.

KEYWORDS: Parliamentary Threshold; Scorching Voice