Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih giving a keynote speech at the second day of the Second KNAPHTN-HAN, Saturday (9/30/2023). Photo by MKRI/ Ilham W.M.

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BATAM (MKRI) — Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih delivered a keynote speech at the 2nd National Conference of the Association of Constitutional and Administrative Law Lectures of Indonesia (2nd KNAPHTN-HAN) on Saturday, September 30, 2023 in Batam. Other speakers were Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah and Idham Chalid of the KPU (General Elections Commission).

At this hybrid event, Justice Enny said that the Constitutional Court has prepared tools for resolving general election results disputes. “We have prepared all related regulations and we have also provided workshop to relevant stakeholders, especially political parties participating in the general election, KPU, Bawaslu, and in the near future we will hold activities for advocates. However, to be honest, this cannot cover everyone, not one hundred percent, because there is indeed a time and budget handicap. So, [there are only] two batches [of workshop for] representatives of political parties, KPU, Bawaslu, and maybe advocates,” she explained.

The fact is, based on her experience, many things concerning the settlement of election disputes must be understood well, especially by parties participating in the election and the election organizers. This is because speedy trial means that proceedings are usually time-limited.

“The registration period is very limited, only 3x24 hours for registration of legislative election, presidential election, and regional election—three days after [election results] are announced,” she explained.

So, she continued, prospective petitioners will usually register long before the deadline.

“Sometimes they are worried that when they submit a petition, it will not be accepted. So, they stand in line to take their queue number. And that’s not allowed. So during the workshops, I said that even if they are going to run for election and now they are a legislative candidate, they have to prepare to lose or win. When they are ready to lose, they must also prepare the documents if they want to submit a petition to the Constitutional Court regarding the settlement of the results dispute,” she stressed.

According to Justice Enny, the Constitutional Court has the function and authority related to the settlement of result disputes, so it waits for the final results certified by the KPU, which is the recapitulation of the results, which is not final. The results after the dispute is settled is the final results.

She emphasized that the Election Law has divided up the authorities to resolve disputes during the stages of election.

“The authority of the KPU is explicit, not to mention Bawaslu’s (Elections Supervisory Body). The Constitutional Court is at the very end, specifically related to results disputes. The results are the numbers determined by the KPU. This is why people sometimes say that the Constitutional Court is like a calculator court, as the only thing it calculates is numbers. We shouldn’t look at it in such a narrow way. Why? Because what is provided by the Constitution and the law is the resolution of disputes over results. Behind the results, there are then many petitions that allege that there are problems affecting the results. The problem may lead to a process that should have been completed by the KPU and Bawaslu, but it turns out that the process may not be completed or even cannot be handled properly by the two institutions,” she explained.

As such, in the context of electoral justice, the Constitutional Court is the final recourse, when no other institution resolve the dispute. When a case has entered the Constitutional Court, its process in Bawaslu or must stop so that it does not cause problems. This is why the Constitutional Court decisions may relate to the election process. It may even disqualify candidates in the regional election when a problem has been proven, leading to a runoff election.

She also explained that the Constitutional Court holds public, open hearings. She also said that the Court’s workshops for the parties participating in the election, KPU, Bawaslu, and advocates are not sufficient. So, the Court hopes that APHTN-HAN will pick it up and help the process and educate stakeholders on time management.

“The party’s weakness is documenting. Most of the time, the petitions sometimes do not mention the object, when it is very important to mention the KPU’s decision letter on the recapitulation of the results because that is the object, it is important,” she said.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah explained the urgency of digital or electronic-based elections. He said this has caused debates and not everyone could accept it.

“Do not let the e-voting issue disappear from the discourse in finding the most effective, efficient, accountable method, which is of course important for a country as big as Indonesia. There are people who see that the use or application of e-voting is suitable for a country that is not large but there are also those who see that even large countries such as Indonesia, America, and Russia can use the e-voting method for large-scale elections. In fact, the effectiveness of e-voting is when the number of voters is large. If it is small, it is also possible,” he explained.

E-voting, he said, does not yet have a clear legal protection. This discourse often appears in every election and regional head election. However, Indonesia is not yet prepared for it.

The discourse on e-voting, he said, emerges near election, but fizzles out right after election. However, the momentum is always there. He mentioned two Constitutional Court decisions encouraging elections based on e-voting.

In his presentation, he said that e-voting is voting through electronic voting equipment based on the principles of efficiency and convenience. However, it should consider the community and regional governments in terms of infrastructure and readiness.

He also mentioned that to conduct e-voting, Indonesia must prepare ICT, dissemination, security, and education to the public. (*)

Author       : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Tahlitha Laela/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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.

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