Petitioners’ legal counsel Patrialis Akbar and Syaefullah Hamid in the preliminary hearing for Case No. 193/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025. Photo by MKRI/Ifa

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – Candidate Pair 02 Yudhianto Mahardika Anton Timbang-Nirnah Lachmuddin filed a petition to the Court to annul the Kendari City KPU (election commission) Decree No. 541 of 2024 concerning the certification of the 2024 Kendari City Mayoral election results. The preliminary hearing was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo  (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah on Panel 1 on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

The Petitioners’ legal counsel, Syaefullah Hamid, in Case No. 193/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 mentioned the vote count results of each candidate pair by the Respondent as follows: Candidate Pair 01 Siska Karina Imran–Sudirman obtained 61,831 votes, the Petitioners obtained 41,044 votes, Candidate Pair 03 Sitya Giona Nur Alam–Subhan gained 19,419 votes, Candidate Pair 04 Aksan Jaya Putra–Andi Sulolipu gained 13,815 votes, and Candidate Pair 05 Abdul Rasak–Afdhal obtained 51,598 votes.

The Petitioners alleged several violations in the election results, including instances where individuals who were not eligible voters were allowed to vote, voters who exercised their voting rights more than once, and individuals who lost their voting rights. These violations were found in 195 polling stations (TPS) across 11 districts, covering 37 villages. After adjusting the vote count from these 195 TPS, the vote difference between the Petitioners and Candidate Pair 01, which initially stood at 20,787 votes, was reduced to 13,934 votes. Additionally, the valid votes in these 195 TPS amounted to 67,557, significantly impacting the Petitioners' vote acquisition.

The Petitioners pointed out an issue with fictitious voters, identifying individuals who were not eligible voters but were allowed to vote in the polling stations. They based this identification on discrepancies between the number of voter signatures in the attendance list and the number of voters recorded in the C-Result or D-Result forms. Specifically, the Petitioners found that the number of signatures in the attendance list was lower than the number of voters recorded in the C-Result or D-Result, suggesting that some voters were not properly registered but were still permitted to vote.

“The vote acquisition certified by the Respondent comes from invalid numbers due to unregistered voters who cast their votes. For example, in TPS 8 Kambu where the number of attendance lists is 290 based on final voter lists, while the C-Result becomes 302,” mentioned Syaefullah. 

The Petitioners also argued that some ballots were used but either unaccounted or missing. This indication was found based on the number of signatures in the voter attendance list being greater than the votes used as listed in C-Results or D-Results of the district. For example, at TPS 6 Watu-Watu, the attendance list showed 404 voters, but in CResults it was listed only 403 voters.

Therefore, the Petitioners requested the Court to order the Kendari City KPU to carry out a revote at polling stations in Kambu District in Kambu Village with 10 polling stations, Mokou Village with 3 polling stations, Lalolara Village with 6 polling stations; Padaleu Village with 5 polling stations; West Kendari District in Tipulu Village with 6 polling stations, Watu-Watu Village with 5 polling stations, Kemayara Village with 1 polling station, Lahundape Village with 4 polling stations, Sodoha Village with 1 polling station, Punggaloba Village with 1 polling station, and Banu Banua Village with 1 polling station; Abeli District; Mandonga District; Kadia District; Puuwatu District; Baruga District; Kendari District; and Poasia District.

The petition for Case No. 193/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 can be accessed here.

Author: Sri Pujianti
Editor: N. Rosi
Translator: Syifa Amelia

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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