Election

• In response to the evolving needs of our clients, Vstock Transfer's expanded services aim to streamline the process of conducting shareholder meetings and managing proxy voting, while ensuring compliance and facilitating seamless communication between issuers and shareholders.
• With Shareholder Meeting Services, Vstock Transfer provides end-to-end support, from pre-meeting planning to post-meeting follow-up.
• Yoel Goldfeder, CEO of Vstock Transfer, expressed his enthusiasm for the extended services, stating: "Even after twelve years we are still innovating and rolling out new technology.
• “Our mission is to serve as a robust resource for companies and shareholders with a comprehensive suite of services designed to streamline processes, ensure compliance, and foster confidence at every stage of the capital markets journey,” said Seth Farbman, chairman of Vstock Transfer.

• Indonesia’s General Elections Commission reports that as many as 204 million voters are enrolled for the election, with about 114 million of them under 40 years of age.
• Polls say the top issues for younger voters include unaffordable basic goods, lack of employment opportunities, high poverty rates, expensive health services and poor education quality and service.
• Meanwhile, there are concerns among many observers that Indonesia’s democracy has been backsliding in recent years.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy

• Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy but faces getting caught in what economists call the middle-income trap, where its wages are too high but productivity too low to be competitive.
• Its growing economic dependence on China and regional tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea have foreign policy observers and investors watching the election closely.

• Yet the election takes place against a backdrop of increasing democratic fragility.
• Baswedan and Pranowo support a market-based approach and a balanced approach between protecting national industries and fostering foreign investment.
• On one of the main issues of the day, the relocation of the capital city of Indonesia, Baswedan is the most critical of the candidates.
• He has vowed to review the project, but is unlikely to stop the move even if he wins, as the plan is already formalized into law.

Massive spending and vote buying

• While the presence of many candidates – for example, there are 300 in Jakarta alone, including celebrities and cabinet ministers from 17 parties, vying for 21 seats in the House of Representatives – could suggest a vibrant democracy, the massive spending among them increases the risk of vote buying.
• Furthermore, due to the current open-list proportional voting systems, candidates must compete against their party peers to win a seat.
• This system creates a fierce competition among candidates and increases the chance of vote buying.

Financial irregularities tied to election funding have also dogged parties across the political spectrum, leading the Association for Election and Democracy to cite a worrisome trend of citizens coming to see money politics as acceptable within a competitive democracy. The other challenge during the election campaign is the lack of accountability and transparency for campaign funding.

A slide toward autocracy

• A 2023 report by V-Dem Democracy Institute highlights several factors in its slide toward autocracy.
• Strategic election manipulation is another form of backsliding, encompassing a range of activity geared toward tilting the electoral playing field in favor of incumbents.
• While Widodo claims not to have intervened in the ruling, there is a clear benefit to his family.

Angguntari Ceria Sari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• The MEVC report, titled " Improving Our Electoral College Syst em ," brings into focus the centuries-old shortcomings of the Electoral College and several possible alternatives to a system that does not reflect the democratic value of all votes counting equally.
• "The stark disparities in voter turnout between 'safe' and swing states, coupled with the disproportionate impact on underrepresented groups, underscore the urgent need for Electoral College reform."
• MEVC offers the report to advance public education about the historical roots of the Electoral College and to spark debate about whether the Electoral College still serves our modern democratic system of choosing elected officials by a vote of the people.
• Engaging a diverse cross-section of American society, MEVC will lead discussions of Electoral College reforms in order to have a more inclusive and resilient presidential election system.

• NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board (CED), has issued a new Solutions Brief, 2024 Policy Priorities: Inflection Point, Charting a Sustainable Path Forward , that outlines the most important policy challenges before the nation in 2024.
• And to meet the challenges, it includes recommendations for building a stronger, more resilient, sustainable economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans.
• The Solutions Brief—the latest in CED's Sustaining Capitalism series—draws from a letter that CED sent earlier this month to the President and Congressional leadership.
• The commission should address the biggest drivers of deficits and the long-term debt: Medicare and Social Security, whose Trust Funds are becoming insolvent.