Because buying votes is the main factor in determining a candidate's victory in a contest, another factor is the strengthening of clientelistic practices, namely the exchange between candidates and the people as the owners of votes. My research on regional head elections in 35 districts, in Central Java province, Indonesia, in the 2024 simultaneous elections found that all elected regional heads bought votes.

Vote buying persists due to weak institutions, poverty, lack of voter education, and political clientelism; it undermines democratic legitimacy by reducing politics to transactional exchanges, often flourishing in environments where citizens feel disempowered or see few real choices.