PORTALJABAR, GARUT REGENCY - The Garut Regency Government (Pemdakab) successfully held the first Car Free Day (CFD), Sunday (11/8/2024).

The event, which took place along Jalan Ahmad Yani, from Class IIB Garut Prison to Toserba Asia, was officially opened by the Acting Regent of Garut, Barnas Adjidin.

In this CFD, as many as 20 Regional Devices (PD) in the Garut Regency Government environment participated by setting up public service stands for the community. One of the stands that attracted attention was owned by the Garut Regency Communication and Informatics Service (Diskominfo) by presenting the Mobile Diskominfo (Kolink) service.

At this stand, the Communication and Information Service held a special edition of the Communication and Solution Forum (FOKUS) Talkshow featuring two main speakers, namely the Head of the Garut Regency Communication and Information Service Margiyanto, and the Head of the Garut Regency General Election Commission (KPU) Dian Hasanudin. This interactive dialogue attracted great interest from visitors, including the presence of the Acting Regent of Garut and the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) of Garut Regency.

The talk show, which was broadcast live via Intan Radio's live streaming, discussed various crucial issues related to the implementation of the 2024 Pilkada. Margiyanto stated that in addition to covering the event, Diskominfo also took advantage of the CFD moment to disseminate important information related to the Pilkada.

"We hope that the regional government and the KPU can synergize by involving local influencers to share correct information related to the regional elections," he said.

He also emphasized the importance of vigilance against hoaxes that often appear in the midst of the Pilkada process. According to him, the public must be smart in sorting information and can validate the truth of information through the Diskominfo saber hoax unit or directly to the Garut Regency KPU.

"Usually, information related to hoax content tends to be more tendentious and leads to news that seems true, this can be detected from the substance of the information received by the public," he said.

According to Margiyanto, if the public receives such information, they can validate it by asking the Saber Hoax Unit at the Garut Regency Communication and Information Service, or they can clarify it directly with the Garut Regency KPU as the election organizer, or with Bawaslu as the election supervisory element.

Margiyanto emphasized that anyone who spreads information containing elements of hoaxes can be threatened with criminal penalties, according to the provisions of laws and regulations, according to the type of action.

"Because nowadays there are so many types of information that contain elements of hoaxes, we have to be really smart in sorting and choosing which information is true or not," he said.

Garut Regency KPU Chairman Dian Hasanudin explained that the stages of implementing the 2024 Pilkada in Garut Regency, including the process of updating voter data, had involved 7,848 Pantarlih officers.

This voter data update was carried out, continued Dian, in order to reduce the number of special voter lists (DPK) in Garut Regency, because the number of DPK in the last February Election was quite large, namely around 14 thousand.

In addition, Dian also explained that his party is increasingly intensively implementing socialization related to the Garut Regency Pilkada, including socialization to political parties and prospective candidate pairs. Including, coordinating with agencies related to the requirements for regional head nominations.

"For example, in PKPU 8 related to the nomination, a vision and mission script appears that must be submitted by prospective candidates, which must be in line with the RPJPD. We also presented Bappeda yesterday to submit a technocratic draft for the first 5 years in the RPJPD, so that it can be a guideline for prospective candidate pairs in compiling their vision and mission," he said.

Regarding new voters, Dian continued, based on data from the results of the updates carried out, there are around 16 thousand new voters who will be 17 years old at the time of the implementation of the Pilkada on November 27, 2024.

He revealed that these new voters are not only voters who are only 17 years old, but also retired TNI Polri members are also included in the category of new voters.

"So, if the total results of yesterday's update are around 180,071 people who we categorize as new voters," he said.

In order to increase the number of public participation in the 2024 Pilkada, especially new voters, Dian said that his party had collaborated with the KCD Region XI of the West Java Provincial Education Office to conduct outreach to schools, which is planned to be intensified in September to October to coincide with the determination of candidate pairs who will compete in the 2024 Pilkada.

In addition, his party will also form democracy volunteers who have been given knowledge by the Garut Regency KPU, with the hope that these volunteers can become agents in socializing the 2024 Garut Regency Pilkada.

Dian also emphasized the importance of public participation in the Pilkada, especially new voters whose numbers reached around 180,071 people. The KPU hopes that all Garut residents can attend the TPS on November 27, 2024 and exercise their voting rights properly.

"So it's not just about coming, but also the ballot paper must be valid," he said.