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Home Affairs Ministry Population and Civil Registry Director General Zudan Arif Fakrulloh delivering Government statement in the judicial review of the Election Law, Monday (25/3) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Tugafo.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Home Affairs Ministry Population and Civil Registry Director General Zudan Arif Fakrullohsaid thate-ID requirement in elections is not without reason. Its main reason is to prevent dual voting. This was conveyed in the judicial review of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections for two cases, No. 19/PUU-XVII/2019 and 20/PUU-XVII/2019 on Monday (25/3/2019). The Petitioners questioned the requirement of e-ID to vote and the issue of Additional Final Voters List (DPTb).

Zudan said that the e-ID is used to build single citizenship data. This is difficult to realize using ordinary ID cards. "On ordinary ID cards, there are lots of dual data. Meanwhile, in the e-IDs this does not happen," he explained on behalf of the Government. The use of e-ID, he said, is to ensure that the Simultaneous Elections will run smoothly without any dual voting.

In addition, Zudan said the policy is a continuation of the Constitutional Court Decision that allows the use of ID card to cast a ballot. People who have not been recorded in the final voters list (DPT) can continue exercising their rights in elections this way. “We make sure the process can run smoothly. That\'s why we rigidly [require] electronic ID as the solution. Not ordinary ID card,” he said. The use of e-ID is also geared toward a bigger goal, that is, integrated public services.

However, Zudan acknowledge the issue. His data shows around 4.2 million people not having e-IDs. "The majority are in Papua and West Papua, as many as 2 million. The rest is spread evenly in 32 provinces," he explained.

In relation to this, his party has coordinated with the House of Representatives Commission II. In a joint meeting with the House of Representatives, the requirement of e-ID in elections was agreed upon as a condition for those not listed in the DPT.

"If you don\'t have an e-ID, you can use a certificate (suket) from the dukcapil [(Population and Civil Registry)] explaining that the person in question had recorded an e-ID," he explained. If, he added, the certificate is not available, any proof of identity can be used, such as birth certificate, passport, or family card (KK).

In reality, said Zudan, it is difficult to pursue the issuance of e-ID for 4.2 million residents until Election Day. So far, the ministry has made various efforts such as [seeking e-ID registrants. However, the average number of e-ID registration is still only around 30 thousand per day.

No Special Ballots for DPTb

General Elections Commission (KPU) Chairman Arief Budiman said about DPTb that it could be interpreted as additional voters based on regions or still with five ballots. He said that the first option means that those voting outside of their domicile area cannot vote according to their electoral districts (dapil). “So, they might only vote for the president-vice president, but not for the municipal/district and provincial legislative council (DPRD) as well as the House of Representatives (DPR),” he said representing the Relevant Party.

Meanwhile, he said, for the second option, additional voters can still vote with the available five ballots, regardless of the electoral district. However, currently there have been no facilities to support it due to the unavailability of special DPTb ballots. "However, broadly speaking, I still hold that voters should exercise their right to vote in their domiciles. When they move, they lose some of their constitutional rights," he explained.

At the end of the hearing, the Court confirmed that the decision will be made three days after the session, on Thursday (28/3/2019) at 10.00 WIB. The Court allows submission of concluding statements of all the parties involved until Tuesday (26/3/2019) at 10.00 WIB.

The petition No. 20/PUU-XVII/2019 was filed by Perludem, Hadar Nafis Gumay, Feri Amsari, Augus Hendy, A. Murogi bin Sabar, Muhamad Nurul Huda, and Sutrisno. The Petitioners challenged Article 210 paragraph (1), Article 348 paragraphs (4) and (9), Article 350ayat (2), Article 383 paragraph (2) of the Election Law. They argued that many people who have voting right do not have e-ID cards and there are voters who will turn 17 years on polling day but cannot vote because they do not have e-ID cards yet. In addition, e-ID requirement also potentially eliminates, hinders, or complicate voting right for vulnerable groups such as indigenous peoples, poor urbans, people with disabilities, social care institutions, prisoners in prisons and detention centers, and other voters who cannot fulfill requirements for the e-ID card.

Meanwhile, the case No. 19/PUU-XVII/2019 was filed by university students Joni Iskandar and Roni Alfiansyah. They felt harmed by the enactment of Article 210 paragraphs (2) and (3), Article 344 paragraph (2), and Article 348 paragraph (4) of the Election Law. The Petitioners challenged the provision on the right to vote for voters who moved residences to be accommodated in DPTb. (Arif Satriantoro/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)

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