Herdi Munte and Missiniaki Tommi (Petitioners) petitioning the Regional Election Laws, Thursday (10/17/2024). Photo by MKRI/Panji.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held a material judicial review hearing of several articles in the Regional Election Laws on Thursday, October 17, 2024 in a panel courtroom. The case No. 145/PUU-XXII/2024 was filed by Herdi Munte and Missiniaki Tommi. They challenge Article 79 paragraph (1) and Article 85 paragraph (1) of Law No. 1 of 2015, Article 94 of Law No. 8 of 2015, as well as Article 107 paragraph (1) and Article 109 paragraph (1) of Law No. 10 of 2016 on the implementation of the regional election law (pilkada). They believe their constitutional rights would be harmed if the blank vote is not validated in the regional election where more than one candidate pairs compete.
At this preliminary hearing, Herdi Munte (Petitioner I) stated that it would be unfair to validate a blank vote in regional elections where only a single candidate pair compete, but not when several candidate pairs do.
“Abstaining in the regional election is commonplace. In the Medan election in 2015, 24.9 percent of voters did so. This phenomenon is an impetus for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Missiniaki Tommi (Petitioner II) said that the West Sumatera governor candidates do not have any outstanding achievement. He feels that his right to register a “none of the above” vote in the election has been restricted by laws that do not recognized such an option.
The Petitioners also highlighted that the plurality voting system has disregarded the voice of the majority of voters. They believe that it allows political party to select candidates without considering people’s aspirations, so the people are forced to vote for candidates selected by the elite. They proposed that the blank vote is acknowledged as a legitimate vote in regional elections in the effort to fight against oligarchy and cartel parties.
The Petitioners emphasized that the recognition of the blank vote would fulfill the people’s political right to express their disagreement of existing candidates. Should it win, a runoff would have to take place and the losing candidates should not run in the election.
Petitums
The Petitioners wish that the Court grant their petition in its entirety, citing that a constitutional acknowledgement of their disapproval of candidates would be a democratic step in the 2024 simultaneous regional election.
Therefore, in the petitums, they requested that the Court declare the following norms unconstitutional and not legally binding: Article 79 paragraph (1) of Law No. 1 of 2015 if not interpreted as “Ballot papers as referred to in Article 78 paragraph (1) letter b contain photographs, names, and serial numbers of candidates and an empty column as the implementation of a blank vote;” Article 85 paragraph (1) of Law No. 1 of 2015 if not interpreted as “Voting for elections may be done by: 1) Marking once on the ballot paper either on the candidate pair or empty column as the implementation of a blank vote; or 2) Voting through electronic voting equipment;” as well as Article 94 of Law No. 8 of 2015 if not interpreted as “A ballot paper for the Election is declared valid if: a. The ballot paper is signed by the Chairman of the KPPS; and b. One mark is given on the serial number, photo, or name of one of the candidate pairs on the ballot paper or on the Empty Column as the implementation of a blank vote.”
The Petitioners also requested that the Court declare the following norms of Law No. 10 of 2016 unconstitutional and not legally binding: Article 107 paragraph (1) if not interpreted as “Candidate Pairs for Regent and Vice Regent as well as Candidate Pairs for Mayor and Vice Mayor who obtain the most votes and defeat the vote acquisition of the empty column (blank vote) shall be certified as the Elected Candidate Pairs for Regent and Vice Regent as well as the Elected Candidate Pairs for Mayor and Vice Mayor:” and Article 109 paragraph (1) if not interpreted as “The Candidate Pair for Governor and Vice Governor who receives the most votes and defeats the empty column (blank vote) shall be declared the elected candidate pair for Governor and Vice Governor.”
Justices’ Advice
In response, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh (panel chair) advised the Petitioners to elaborate the touchstones in the rationale of the petition.
“The touchstones in the reason for the petition should be ensured, whether they are all presented or be reduced in part. What is important is that they reflect that a constitutionality issue has occurred,” he said.
Before adjourning the hearing, Justice Foekh announced that the Petitioners would have 14 days to revise the petition and submit it by Wednesday, October 30.
Author : Utami Argawati
Editor : N. Rosi
PR : Tiara Agustina
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.
Thursday, October 17, 2024 | 12:05 WIB 90