Overview
- The two governments signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday that commits India to help develop Indonesian-specific electronic voting machines and to share election management training and best practices.
- The MoU frames the work as cooperation and planning rather than an immediate nationwide rollout, with officials describing any full deployment as a medium-term objective ahead of Indonesia's 2029 polls.
- Indonesia currently runs single-day national elections with multiple paper ballots, so moving to EVMs would require major changes to ballot design, logistics, voter education and polling procedures.
- Officials point to prior study visits, including an Indonesian team that observed polling in Bihar in November 2025, as part of a measured process of technical review, pilot testing and capacity building.
- India has already supplied customised machines and support to countries such as Bhutan, Nepal and Namibia, but domestic debates about EVM security and transparency in India could shape technical vetting and public acceptance in Indonesia.