Legal counsel Ahmad Willi Marfi testifying at the regent election results dispute hearing for Case No. 136/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani, Thursday (1/9/2025). Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) – South Ogan Komering Ulu (South OKU) regent-vice regent candidates 02 Iwan Hermawan and Faisal Ranopa alleged instances of double voting and individuals using identity cards of other people not registered on the final voters list (DPT). Additionally, they alleged incidents of voters voting multiple times at different polling stations (TPS) as well as forged signatures on the attendance lists.

“The Petitioners found voters casting their votes more than once and/or used other individuals’ ID cards (KTP),” stated the Petitioners’ legal counsel at the preliminary examination hearing for Case No. 136/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the South OKU regent election results dispute on Thursday, January 9, 2025. The hearing was presided over by Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and Constitutional Justices Ridwan Mansyur and Arsul Sani on panel 2 in one of the courtrooms.

The Petitioners cited an example of alleged misconduct at TPS 003 in Sinar Baru Village in Buay Pemaca District, where a voter was accused of voting using someone else’s ID card. According to the Petitioners’ witness, the ID card owner Fitra Solichin confirmed that he was not present at TPS 003 on November 27, 2024. Despite this, his signature appeared on the attendance list, raising suspicions that it had been forged. The Petitioners alleged that similar incidents occurred with several other voters.

The Petitioners also alleged instances of double voting at different polling stations. For example, at TPS 1 and TPS 4 in Sinar Napalan Village, four individuals reportedly voted at TPS 1 and then again at TPS 4. Additionally, another case of alleged misconduct occurred at TPS 4 in Sido Rahayu Village, where a voter purportedly used someone else’s ID card to vote. According to the witness, the ID card owner Lamidi confirmed that his signature had been forged on the attendance list at TPS 4. Lamidi, whose name appeared on the list, clarified that he had moved to Bengkulu Province approximately seven years ago.

The Petitioners argued that if the votes from the problematic polling stations were annulled or disregarded, they would lead Candidate Pair 04 Abusama-Misnadi (Relevant Party) by 378 votes. According to the official vote count announced by the South OKU KPU (Elections Commission), the results were as follows: Candidate Pair 01 Hengki Irawan-Alkadri received 8,043 votes; Candidate Pair 02 Iwan Hermawan-Faisal Ranopa secured 85,362 votes; Candidate Pair 03 Heri Martadinata-A. Wahab Nawawi obtained 36,344 votes; and Candidate Pair 04 Abusama-Misnadi garnered 88,076 votes.

According to the vote count results provided by the South Oku KPU (Respondent), the difference between the Petitioners and the Relevant Party declared as having the highest votes in the 2024 South Oku gubernatorial election was 2,714 votes. This margin falls within the permissible threshold for filing a petition on the governor election results at the Court, as stipulated by the statutory laws and regulations.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to annul the South OKU KPU Decree No. 1911 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 South Oku regent election vote counting recapitulation dated December 6, 2024, concerning the vote counts at the disputed polling stations or district election committee (PPK). They also requested the Court to certify the correct vote acquisition as follows: Candidate Pair 01 with 7,810 votes; Candidate Pair 02 with 82,042 votes; Candidate Pair 03 with 35,091 votes; and Candidate Pair 04 with 81,664 votes. They further requested an order for the South OKU KPU to conduct a revote at 34 polling stations in 26 villages across 9 districts in the regency.

Author              : Mimi Kartika
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Fauzan Febriyan
Translators        : Nazila Rikhusshuba/Yuniar Widiastuti (RA)

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.

---