Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh chairing the panel judicial review hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections, Thursday (3/17/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

---

Thursday, March 17, 2022 | 14:28 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Constitutional Court (MK) held the preliminary hearing of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Election Law) in the plenary courtroom on Thursday, March 17, 2022. The case No. 26/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by Djudjur Prasasto, who challenges Article 2, which reads, “A General Election shall be held upon the principles of being direct, public, free, confidential, honest, and fair.”

The Petitioner, who appeared before the Court virtually without counsel, asserted that the words “free” and “confidential” overlapped. He argued that if someone’s freedom to vote is guaranteed, he/she must be free to publicize or conceal his/her vote. On the other hand, if one must conceal his/her vote, this means that he/she is not free. In addition, the Petitioner argued that the word “confidential” is no longer relevant in this digital era.

“The elimination of the principle ‘confidential’ in the election would allow for e-voting, so it would be more economical, swift, and accountable. This is because voters would feel a sense of involvement in voting, as they can track the identity of voters at the [polling stations (TPS)] level to the national level,” the Petitioner argued before the panel—Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh (panel chair), Suhartoyo, and Enny Nurbaningsih.

However, after conveying his points, the Petitioner requested to withdraw the petition. therefore, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh informed him that the panel of justices could not offer any advice relating to the petition.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Tiara Agustina
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/17/2022 15:55 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

---