Legal counsel Yuniar Riza Hakiki conveying the petition’s subject matter at the preliminary hearing of a judicial review of the Regional Election Law, Friday (10/4/2024). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held the preliminary hearing for a material judicial review of Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2014 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Pilkada Law). The case No. 137/PUU-XXII/2024 by eleven students of the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) including Satrio Anggito Abimanyu, who are eligible voters in their respective hometowns outside of Yogyakarta.

Before Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah and members of the panel, legal counsel Yuniar Riza Hakiki stated that the Petitioners believe their constitutionals right under Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution have been harmed by the enforcement of Article 62 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 95 paragraph (2) of Law No. 1 of 2015. The phrase “at another location” and “at another polling station” in those provisions do not provide a clear explanation on the relocation of voting location, especially for relocating voters. As a result, the Petitioners, who are currently studying outside of their hometowns, could potentially lose their right to vote in the regional election on November 27 this year.

“The provisions on the phrases ‘at another location’ in Article 62 paragraph (1) of Law No. 1 of 2015 and ‘at another polling station’ in Article 95 paragraph (2) of Law No. 1 of 2015 do not specifically state whether [they] include locations and polling stations outside of one’s province and/or regency/city, so the Petitioners and other citizens who on voting day is ‘in a certain situation’ as referred to in Article 50 of the General Elections Commission Regulation (PKPU) No. 7 of 2024 and unable to use their right to vote except if forced to vote at their original polling stations along with the complexity, challenge, risk, and other constraints,” Yuniar said.

This ambiguity, the Petitioners argued, has and could potentially lead to the denial of the right of the Petitioners and other citizens who are in a certain situation during regional election day. As such, those two articles are not in line with Article 28I paragraph (5) of the 1945 Constitution as Law No. 1 of 2015 cannot be a legal instrument that upholds and protects human rights under the principles of a democratic rule of law.

The Petitioners believe they are in “a certain condition” as stated in Article 50 of PKPU No. 7 of 2024, since they cannot vote at their original polling stations while studying outside of their original domiciles. However, there are no provisions specifically accommodating relocating voters, so they could potentially be unable to vote.

Therefore, the Petitioners asked the Court to prioritize their petition in order to protect their constitutional rights and prevent constitutional impairment. They also requested that the Court declare the phrase “at another location” in Article 62 paragraph (1) of Law No. 1 of 2015 conditionally unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as “outside of the province of origin and/or regency/city of origin” and the phrase “at another polling station” in Article 95 paragraph (2) of Law No. 1 of 2015 conditionally unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted as “at a polling station outside of the province of origin and/or regency/city of origin.”

In response, Constitutional Justice Asrul Sani asked the Petitioners to explain their constitutional impairment more clearly. “Are the Petitioners new potential voters or have they voted before? Make it clear whether the constitutional impairment is actual or potential. Please revise [the petition] accordingly,” he said.

The panel of justices gave the Petitioners 14 days to revise the petition, which must be submitted by Thursday, October 17 at 15:00 WIB.

Author         : Utami Argawati
Editor          : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR              : Fauzan Febriyan
Translator    : 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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