The Politics of Gerrymandering in post New Order Indonesia: The Case of the Electoral District of Central Java DPRD 8

Electoral districts are an arena of competition and the basis of the representation of the population. The electoral district also represents and absorbs the aspirations of its constituents. In general, the formation of electoral districts takes into account the principle of adoption, namely, equality of votes, territorial integrity, and cohesiveness of the population. However, as expressed in the regulation of electoral districts in the 2019 election (Law Number 7 of 2017), the formation of electoral districts of the DPRD did not pay attention to these principles. Instead, the process included manipulation such as gerrymandering. Studies on gerrymandering have paid particular attention to the district system, but that does not mean that the practice does not occur in Indonesia, which applies a proportional system. Gerrymandering has been noted since the 2014 elections in the West Java DPR III electoral district, which is a large district. It occurred again in the 2019 elections, particularly in Central Java 8. This study proposes a preliminary assessment of the practices used in the structuring of Central Java 8 and argues that gerrymandering succeeded in giving more seats to certain parties in the provincial parliament