Legal counsel Andi Muhammad Asrun at the preliminary examination hearing for Case No. 176/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Lahat regent election results dispute, Thursday (1/9/2025). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) - The Constitutional Court (MK) conducted a preliminary examination hearing for Case No. 176/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the 2024 Lahat regent election results dispute. The hearing took place on Thursday, January 9, 2025 and was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah.

The Petitioners are Lahat regent-vice regent Candidates 01 Yulius Maulana and Budiarto, the Respondent is the Lahat KPU (Elections Commission), and the Relevant Party is Candidate Number 02 Bursah Zarnubi and Widia Ningsih.

In the petition, the Petitioners alleged numerous structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violations during the election process. “These TSM violations are substantiated by 180 pieces of evidence that have been submitted,” stated legal counsel Andi Muhammad Asrun, reading the argument.

The alleged TSM violations included administrative errors such as mismatches between the voter attendance lists and the number of valid votes cast, missing voter attendance lists, and the absence of attendance lists in ballot boxes.

The Petitioners also revealed that some ballot boxes were unsealed after voting and counting at the polling stations. “It is suspected that the opening of the ballot boxes and/or the voting and counting documents did not follow the procedures outlined in the laws and regulations,” stated Asrun.

The Petitioners also highlighted identical signatures on the attendance lists and duplicate C-Result forms. They argued these fraudulent activities rendered the voting results invalid, as stipulated in Article 50 paragraph (3) of KPU Regulation No. 17 of 2024.

Based on the arguments presented, the Petitioners requested the Court to annul the Lahat KPU decree on the certification of the 2024 Lahat regent election results. They also requested the Court to order the Respondent to conduct a revote at all polling stations in districts across Lahat Regency.

“[We request the Court to order] the Lahat Elections Commission to carry out a revote at all polling stations for districts in Lahat: East Merapi, West Merapi, West Kikim, East Kikim, Pseksu, Pulau Pinang, and South Kikim,” said Asrun.

Also read petition for Case No. 176/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025.

Author              : Ashri Fadilla
Editor                : N. Rosi
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.

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