Petitioner’s legal counsel, Harkarando Siregar, while testifying through videoconference in preliminary hearing of mayoral election dispute case No. 167/PHPU.WAKO- XXIII/2025 in panel 2 courtroom, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and panel members Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani, Wednesday (1/8/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Binjai mayor-vice mayor candidate 03 Donal Anjar Simanjuntak and Muhammad Andri Alfisah challenged the victory of candidate 04 Amir Hamzah-Hasanul Jihadi. The Petitioner—in the petition of case No.167/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025—argued that the election was held in midst of flooding which hampered the community mobility, resulting in many polling stations being inaccessible.

However, the Petitioner said, the Binjai City General Election Commission (KPU) proceeded to organize the regional head election on November 27, 2024 amid heavy rain that poured over most city areas until late afternoon. The Petitioner stated that the KPU’s decision to continue the voting during the flooding was irresponsible.

“In a disaster, KPU should prioritize the community interests by postponing the voting until the situation improves,” said the Petitioner’s legal counsel, Harkarando Siregar through videoconference in the preliminary hearing of the mayoral election dispute on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 in the panel 2 courtroom. Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra chaired the panel with Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Asrul Sani as panel members.

The Petitioner stated that KPU’s decision resulted in a low voter participation. The Petitioner quoted the statement of KPU Binjai member, Arie Nurwanto, that community participation was around 60 percent because of flooding on the election day. Voter participation significantly declined compared to previous elections, where it had reached 65.41 and 71.68 for 2015 and 2020 regional elections, respectively.

In fact, the Petitioner continued, at the polling station level, voter participation was below 50 percent. Although KPU held supplementary voting at several polling stations in Binjai Kota subdistrict, voter participation remained low.

In addition, the Petitioner said, KPU only held a supplementary voting in Binjai Kota Subdistrict, excluding the four other flooded subdistricts with similar conditions. The Petitioner argued that such a decision is discriminatory and undermines the honest, fair, and inclusive election principles.

 

To note, KPU has certified the 2024 Binjai mayor-vice mayor election votes. Candidate 01 (Tengku Rizki Ali Syahbana-Aulia Hardi) gained 18,258 votes, candidate 02 (Zainuddin Purba-Hendro Susanto) obtained 31,673 votes, candidate 03 (Donal Anjar Simanjuntak-Muhammad Andri Alfisah) earned 34,992 votes, and candidate 04 (Amir Hamzah-Hasanul Jihadi) received 38,669 votes.

As such, the Petitioner requests the Court to annul the Binjai City KPU Decree No. 495 of 2024 on the Certification of the 2024 Binjai Mayor-Vice Mayor Election dated December 4, 2024 and the Binjai City KPU Decree No. 490 of 2024 on Supplementary Voting and Vote-counting in the 2024 Gubernatorial and Binjai Mayoral Elections. The Petitioner also wishes the Court to order the Binjai City KPU for a revote in mayor-vice mayor election in Binjai City.

The petition for case No. 167/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 can be accessed here.

Author      : Mimi Kartika
Editor       : N. Rosi
Translator : Ryan Alfian/FS

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.

 

---