Petitioner's witness, Uber Firdaus, testified in the 2024 legislative election results dispute of Riau Province, on Tuesday, May 28 in Courtroom Panel 1 of the Constitutional Court Building. Photo by MKRI /Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) as the Petitioner in Case No. 234-01-03-04/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024 regarding the Election Results Dispute (PHPU) for the Dumai City DPRD in Electoral District (Dapil) 4 and the Rokan Hulu Regency DPRD 3, presented witnesses during the continuation of the evidentiary hearing at the Court. The witness for the Petitioner, Ronirian Dani, contested the nullification of one vote each from the Indonesian Guard of Change Party (Garuda)  at Polling Stations (TPS) 07 in Purnama and 17 in Simpang Tetap Darul Ikhsan (STDI) in West Dumai.

"Because Garuda votes were not included in the last legislative election in Electoral District 4 of Dumai City, where the party was listed, the Subdistrict Election Committee (PPK) claimed that Garuda was not included in the 2024 election because it was not registered in Dumai City," stated Roni, who at the time served as PDIP's mandated witness at the subdistrict level in Dumai City.

The hearing to listen to witness/expert testimony was held on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 in the Plenary Courtroom of Building 1 of the Court, Central Jakarta. The case was heard by Panel 1 presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, accompanied by Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and Guntur M. Hamzah.

On this matter, Roni raised objections and requested the opening of ballot boxes to verify the receipt of one vote for Garuda at each of the two aforementioned TPS as per Forms C Results and C Plano. However, the Subdistrict Election Committee (PPK) refused to open the ballot boxes as per Roni's request.

Meanwhile, another witness for the Petitioner, Uber Firdaus, serving as PDIP's mandated witness at the city level in Dumai, noted discrepancies between the number of voters present and the number of ballots used at three TPS, namely TPS 07 in Purnama, 06, and 17 in STDI. According to Uber, after recounting the votes as recommended by the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), the numbers of voters present and ballots used still did not match.

"From the D Results for TPS 07, there were 225 presidential voters, but the attendance list showed 223, indicating two extra people for the president. For the DPR RI at TPS 07 in Purnama, 224 DPR RI voters were present, with the attendance list showing 223, one extra. At TPS 06 for the president, 225 people were counted on the attendance list as 226, one extra. TPS 17's D Results list showed 205, but the attendance list showed 209. After recounting the ballots, we still objected and thus did not sign the recapitulation report for the city level of Dumai," explained Uber.

Garuda Dismissed As Election Participant

On the other hand, a witness for the Respondent (General Elections Commission/KPU), Hanna Fitri, a member of the West Dumai PPK, confirmed the receipt of votes for Garuda. However, Garuda was later declared inadmissible as an election participant in Dumai City, rendering its votes invalid.

"There is a decree stating that Garuda was declared inadmissible as an election participant in Dumai City," said Hanna.

Additionally, Syafrizal, a member of the Dumai City KPU and a witness for the Respondent, confirmed Uber Firdaus's objection requesting the opening of ballot boxes to count the votes and verify the results. However, he stated that after verification, the data matched, so no further vote recount was conducted as also recommended by Bawaslu. "Finally, it matched, synchronized with the list of those present," said Syafrizal.

However, Syafrizal noted that four voters who appeared at the TPS submitted Form C Notification of Voting and voted but did not sign, causing a discrepancy in the list of voters present and the number of ballots. Additionally, one voter returned the presidential ballot because they chose not to vote. There were also residents who filled out the absentee and signature forms but left before voting due to the long wait to enter the voting booth.

According to Chief Justice Suhartoyo, election officials must ensure all voters sign or mark their attendance and dip their fingers in ink as proof of voting. Moreover, incidents like voters leaving without voting should be consistently documented in the minutes.

There are and aren't (minutes of meeting); why isn't it consistent? Some are made, some aren't, so there's no consistency," said Justice Suhartoyo.

Also read : 

PDI-P Asks for Revote in Several Polling Stations in Dumai 4, Rokan Hulu 3

KPU: Difference Due to Voters Not Voting for President

In its petition, PDIP requests a repeat vote (PSU) at TPS 06 and 17 in STDI, TPS 07 in Purnama, all in West Dumai District; andTPS 04 in Basilam Baru, Sungai Sembilan District, to ensure that only eligible voters vote. Similarly, repeat voting is needed at TPS 28 and 30 in Mahato, North Tambusai District, Rokan Hulu Regency, Riau, where ineligible voters affected the vote count, causing PDIP to potentially lose one DPRD seat in Dumai Electoral District 4.

According to the Petitioner, if the Respondent or KPU addresses the Special Incident Notes and/or Witness Objections during the vote count recapitulation in West Dumai on March 2, 2024, related to vote count discrepancies, it could significantly enhance PDIP's chance to secure an additional seat at the Dumai City DPRD. A similar issue also occurred in Electoral District 3 of Rokan Hulu Regency.

Author : Mimi Kartika

Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.

Translator : Gabrielle K.W/Fuad Subhan

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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