Expressions of the Related Party's Legal Counsel Bayu Aditya Putra and DPD Nasdem Party Devie Prihartini after listening to the Court's ruling on the General Election Results Dispute of West Java Provincial DPRD Members in Bogor City 3 on Monday (19/8/2024) in the Constitutional Court Court. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
JAKARTA, MKRI - The Constitutional Court (MK) rejected the petition for General Election Results Dispute (PHPU) concerning the West Java Provincial DPRD Member for Bogor City 3, submitted by the Golkar Party. The decision on Case Number 291-01-04-12/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024 was announced on Monday, August 19, 2024, in the Plenary courtroom of the Constitutional Court. "The Petitioner's petition is rejected in its entirety," declared Constitutional Court Chief Justice Suhartoyo during the ruling, accompanied by seven other constitutional justices.
Earlier, the Petitioner claimed to have been disadvantaged by the Bogor City KPU in the supervision of implementing the Constitutional Court Decision Number 94-01-04-12/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024, which was also brought by the Golkar Party. In that decision, the Constitutional Court instructed the KPU to compare the Petitioner's votes based on the C.Results-DPRD Regency/City document with the D.Results District-DPRD Regency/City of Bogor document in 10 polling stations.
In the legal considerations pronounced by Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, the Court addressed the Petitioner's argument concerning the reduction of Golkar Party votes at polling station 17 in Bubulak Village, where the vote count allegedly dropped from 135 votes to 69 votes, and the alteration was reportedly made using correction fluid (tip-ex). The Court found legal evidence showing that the change was the result of corrections made by the Bogor City KPU, driven by a mismatch between the number of valid votes and the number of ballots.
"The correction was carried out by the Respondent during an open plenary meeting for the recapitulation of vote count results at the sub-district level. This correction was necessary because there had been a double count, where both political party votes and candidate votes were counted twice, leading to a discrepancy between the number of valid votes for political parties and candidates, the number of voters who exercised their rights, and the number of ballots used," Justice Daniel explained during the pronouncement of the ruling.
Justice Daniel emphasized that the Petitioner's argument regarding the alleged reduction of 66 votes at polling station 17 in Bubulak Village could not be substantiated. "Therefore, the Court finds the Petitioner's argument to be legally unfounded," He stated.
Furthermore, Justice Daniel continued, the Court found legal facts indicating that a correction to the vote count was necessary because the total number of valid and invalid votes exceeded the number of ballots used. This issue arose because the votes for the candidates were also counted towards the party's total, resulting in double counting.
In response to this situation, Justice Daniel mentioned that the Respondent, following input from Panwascam West Bogor and the witnesses, conducted a recount of the ballots by opening the ballot box. The Chairman of the Plenary led the recount, and the results were then used as the basis for making corrections in the Model C.Form Results-DPRD Regency/City, which subsequently served as the foundation for completing the Model D.Sub-district Results-DPRD KABKO. This process was carried out with the agreement of all witnesses, including the witness from the Petitioner. Moreover, witnesses from the Golkar Party were present, agreed to the process, and raised no objections.
Different Comparisons
Furthermore, addressing the Petitioner's argument that the vote count in Model C.Results-DPRD Regency/City presented in comparison differs from the Model C.Results-DPRD Regency/City uploaded to the KPU Sirekap, the Court held that the document in question is a supporting document, not the primary document used as a reference for determining the tiered vote count in accordance with Decision Number 59-02-02-12/PHPU DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024.
The Court found that the comparison of the votes in Model C.Results-DPRD Regency/City and Model C.Results-DPRD Regency/City was consistent with the ruling of the Constitutional Court in Decision Number 94-01-04-12/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024.
"Therefore, the Petitioner's argument regarding the vote reduction at polling station 36 in Curug Village cannot be proven, and the Court considers this argument to be legally unfounded," stated Justice Daniel.
Justice Daniel further stated that the Respondent had made corrections to the Petitioner's vote count, reducing it from 204 votes to 108 votes at polling station 30 in Cilendek Timur Village. This correction was made due to the double counting of both political party votes and candidate votes, which had been recorded twice. The corrections made by the Respondent were witnessed by the West Bogor Sub-district Supervisor and the Petitioner's witnesses.
The Respondent has taken action in accordance with the Constitutional Court Decision Number 94-01-04-12/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024, issued on June 19, 2024, by re-comparing the Model C.Results-DPRD Regency/City with Model D.Results District-DPRD KABKO at several polling stations as mandated by the Court's decision. The outcomes of these comparisons have been documented in Minutes 265/PY.01-BA/3271/2024, which detail the results of the comparison of C.Results-DPRD Regency/City votes. Based on the comparisons conducted, the vote counts were found to be consistent between Model C.Results-DPRD Regency/City and Model D.Results District-DPRD KABKO at polling station 17 in Bubulak Village, polling station 36 in Curug Village, and polling station 30 in Cilendek Timur Village.
Correction of Errors in Form C. Results
Regarding the procedure for correcting errors in Form C, which was carried out by the Respondent using non-uniform methods such as the use of a pencil or correction fluid (tip-ex), the Court noted that while these actions can be understood under certain circumstances and do not reduce the vote totals for political parties and candidates, they still warrant attention from the Respondent and Bawaslu to prevent recurrence in the future.
Daniel emphasized that even though there are technical guidelines outlined in Article 60 of the General Election Commission Regulation Number 25 of 2024 concerning Voting and Counting of Votes in General Elections, and Chapter V Part 2 concerning the Settlement of Objections to the General Election Commission Decree Number 66 of 2024 concerning Technical Guidelines for the Implementation of Voting and Counting of Votes in General Elections, the professionalism of election organizers is crucial in implementing these regulations. Therefore, it is essential to continuously enhance the capacity of election organizers at all levels by providing more comprehensive and effective technical guidance.
Additionally, the Respondent should ensure the availability of logistics and secure governance, so they are ready for use when needed. Emphasizing this is crucial to improving the quality of general election administration, as it reflects the principles outlined in Article 22 of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Based on the entire legal considerations discussed above, the Court has concluded that the Petitioner's arguments regarding the vote count in Bogor City 3 are unreasonable according to law in their entirety.
Also read:
Experts Uncover Legal Loopholes in Vote Count Correction Process for DPRD Members of Bogor City 3
Golkar Witness Not Given Objection Form at Bogor City Plenary Meeting
Vote Reduced, Golkar Requests Bogor City 1, 3 Tally Canceled
At the preliminary hearing held on Friday, August 13, 2024, the Petitioner expressed grievances against the Bogor City KPU, alleging that it failed in its supervisory role during the implementation of the Constitutional Court Decision Number 94-01-04-12/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024, a case also petitioned by the Golkar Party. In that decision, the Constitutional Court instructed the KPU to match the Petitioner's votes based on the C.Form Results-DPRD Regency/City document with the D.Form Results Sub-district-DPRD Kab/Kota Bogor document at 10 polling stations.
During the hearing, Daniel Febrian Karunia Herpas, the Petitioner's legal counsel, argued that irregularities were discovered during the vote matching process between Form C.Results and Form D.Sub-district Results, which was conducted on June 19, 2024, particularly at polling station 17 in Bubulak Village, polling station 36 in Curug Village, and polling station 30 in Cilendek Timur Village. Daniel further explained that in Form C.Results for TPS 36 Curug Village, the Golkar Party was recorded as receiving 34 votes. However, during the comparison, additional numbers were found written on the right side of each column in Form C.Results without any initials to authenticate the changes.
In light of these arguments, the Petitioner requested that the Constitutional Court grant petition in its entirety. Specifically, the Petitioner sought to annul the Decision of the General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1050 of 2024, which amended Decision Number 360 of 2024. This amendment pertained to the determination of the results for the 2024 General Election, including the President and Vice President, Members of the House of Representatives, Regional Representatives Council, Provincial Regional People's Representatives Council, and Regency/City Regional People's Representatives Council, as of July 28, 2024, at 17:44 WIB. The Petitioner requested that this decision be annulled in relation to the membership of the Bogor City DPRD for 2024, specifically within Bogor City Election District 3.
Author: Utami Argawati
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator : 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.
Monday, August 19, 2024 | 14:39 WIB 37