The legal counsel of Petitioner of case No. 46-01-17-16/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024 at a ruling hearing for the 2024 legislative election results dispute in the plenary courtroom, Thursday (6/6/2024). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) rejected a petition by PPP (United Development Party) on the 2024 Serang City DPRD (Regional Legislative Council) election results dispute in election district Serang City I on Thursday, June 6, 2024 in the plenary courtroom.

In its legal considerations, the Court considered that the absence of the attendance list for all types of voters, voting relocation letters, special voter lists, and invalid ballots in the ballot boxes at TPS (polling station) 95 of Unyur Village had resulted in corrections made during the vote recapitulation at the Serang Subdistrict level being unfounded and unconvincing.

“The lack of the document in the ballot boxes TPS 95 of Unyur Village also results in the inability to ensure the purity of the voters’ votes, including, in this case, the results of the election of members of the Serang City DPRD for electoral district Serang City 1 at TPS 95 of Unyur Village, Serang Subdistrict,” explained Justice M. Guntur Hamzah alongside Chief Justice Suhartoyo at the hearing for case No. 46-01-17-16/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024.

Based on the aforementioned legal considerations read out by Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah, to ensure the purity of the voters’ votes and to uphold the principle of honesty and fairness in the election of members of the Serang City DPRD for electoral district Serang City 1, the Court stated a revote would be warranted. However, as the Court’s stance in previous election results dispute decisions, the decision on a revote is always associated with whether or not there is a requirement to obtain a significant number of votes if a revote is conducted as referred to in Article 473 paragraph (2) of the Election Law.

After a thorough examination, the Court determined that there was no significant potential for change to the petition, particularly concerning the acquisition of votes that affected the vote share of the Petitioner.

The Court further emphasized that the number of final voters listed at TPS 95 of Unyur Village, Serang Subdistrict, was 233 voters. Under the assumption that all of them voted for the Petitioner, the Petitioner would have had 7,159 votes plus 233 votes, equal to 7,392 votes, enough for one DPRD seat.

Justice Guntur continued, assuming that calculation, even if a revote had been conducted at TPS 95 of Unyur Village, Serang Subdistrict, the Petitioner’s vote acquisition would not have affected the seat acquisition. This is because the a quo petition was filed for the Petitioner’s vote acquisition as a party. Accordingly, within the limits of reasonable reasoning and based on the principles of usefulness, certainty, and efficiency, the Court found a revote irrelevant.

Based on the legal considerations above, it was evident that while a revote was not a determining factor, the Court must emphasize that it did not justify the events in question. The a quo decision must therefore serve as a reminder to election organizers that such occurrences must not be repeated. In the future, the organizers must ensure that accuracy, thoroughness, and prudence are exercised to guarantee the quality of honest and fair elections.

Thus, from the aforementioned legal facts, the Court agreed with the sanction against the organizers that Bawaslu had recommended. According to the Court, the Petitioner’s a quo argument had no legal basis.

“Based on all aforementioned legal considerations, the Court believes that the Petitioner’s petition regarding the vote acquisition of the Serang City DPRD candidate for Serang City electoral district 1 is not legally grounded in its entirety,” said Guntur.

Also read:

Votes Went to Garuda, PPP Challenges Election Results in Banten

KPU, Bawaslu, Garuda Deny PPP’s Argument of Vote Transfer in Banten Province

Court Dismisses PPP’s Petition for Banten

PPP Witness Testifies on Vote Counting in Banten Province

At the preliminary hearing on April 29, the Petitioner argued that in the electoral districts of Banten I, II, and III, there was a transfer of the Petitioner’s (PPP) votes to Garuda (Indonesian Guard of Change Party): 5,000 votes in Banten I, and 5,450 votes in the Banten II, and 8,150 votes in the Banten III, due to counting errors by the Respondent. For this reason, in its petitum, the Petitioner asks for the annulment of the KPU Decree No. 360 of 2024 in the electoral districts of Banten I, Banten II, and Banten III in Banten Province, for the Serang City DPR for the electoral district of Serang I, and the Tangerang City DPRD for the electoral district of Tangerang 4.

Author              : Utami Argawati
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator         : M. Ariva Aswin Bahar/Yuniar W.

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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