On 15 March 2016, the General Election Network on Disability Access (AGENDA) supported its Indonesian partner, the People’s Voter Education Network (Jaringan Pendidikan Pemilih untuk Rakyat, JPPR), to conduct an evaluation workshop on the AGENDA Election Management Body (EMB) Assessment Tool for Accessible Elections. The EMB Assessment Tool is designed to guide election administrators towards best practices and concrete steps they can take to improve accessibility for persons with disability.
A total of 20 Indonesian election organizers from all levels – from poll workers to the General Election Commission (Komisi Pemilihan Umum, KPU) – joined the evaluation. The workshop is a follow-up activity to the pilot test of the EMB Assessment Tool that took place during the December 2015 regional head elections in five (5) locations: Bengkulu Province, Central Sulawesi Province, Sidoarjo District, City of Surabaya (East Java Province) and North Kalimantan Province. Workshop participants evaluated the existing tool and distribution mechanism, offering suggestions on how to revise the tool to improve its usability and efficacy. The revised EMB Assessment Tool will be used by election organizers at all levels to ensure the concurrent regional head elections in 15 February 2017 are accessible for all.
The workshop was officially opened by KPU Commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkyansyah. He praised AGENDA’s efforts, including collaboration with the KPU, to ensure accessible elections since 2011 and commended the initiative to develop the EMB Assessment Tool. Additional introductory remarks were made by KPU Commissioner Hadar N. Gumay, who strongly supported incorporating the revised EMB Assessment Tool into the KPU’s technical guidelines manual for the upcoming 2017 elections. The workshop gathered valuable input to improve the tool and tailor it for use at all levels of election administration.