The Respondent’s legal counsel Ali Nurdin testifying at the examination hearing for Case No. 213/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Manokwari Regency KPU (Elections Commission) confirmed that the 2024 Manokwari regent election, including the relocation of polling stations (TPS), had been conducted following the relevant regulations. This statement was delivered at the examination hearing for Case No. 213/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 concerning the 2024 Manokwari Regency election results dispute on Thursday, January 30, 2025. The hearing was presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo (panel chair) and Constitutional Justices Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah on panel 1 to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body), and to approve evidence from the parties.
In this case, the Manokwari KPU is the Respondent, while the Petitioners are Candidate Pair 1 Bernard Sefnat Boneftar-Eddy Waluyo. Candidate Pair 2 Herus Indou-Mugiono are the Relevant Party.
The Respondent responded to the issue of the relocation of several polling stations, which is one of the points in the petition. The relocation was done for various reasons. TPS 016 in Sowi Village, South Manokwari District was moved after the KPPS (polling station working committee) was asked to pay a rental fee of Rp1 million.
“Therefore, the KPPS coordinated with the South Manokwari PPD (district election committee), who then delivers [the news] to the South Manokwari panwascam (subdistrict elections supervisory committee),” said the Respondent’s legal counsel Ali Nurdin.
TPS 015 in Sanggeng, West Manokwari District was relocated because it was too close to TPS 014. They also stated that the relocation had been done following the West Manokwari District panwascam’s recommendation.
In addition, the Respondent stated that the relocation of TPS 013 Sanggeng, West Manokwari District was due to the rejection of the head of the neighborhood unit (RT). “TPS 013 was relocated because the homeowner, who is also the RT head, rejected his yard being used as a TPS location,” said Ali Nurdin.
Meanwhile, the Respondent confirmed that the other three polling stations such as 010 and 011 in Anday, South Manokwari District, and TPS 028 in West Manokwari, had not been moved as alleged by the Petitioners.
The Respondent also ensured the accuracy of voters’ data, refuting the Petitioners’ argument of double final voter lists (DPT). “There were no double voters,” Ali Nurdin said.
The Respondent believes that the accusation of double DPT had arisen because of the similarity of names in the DPT, despite the names referring to different people under different ID card numbers and different family card numbers. “So even though the names are the same, the persons are different,” he revealed.
In response to the allegations of double DPT, the Relevant Party issued a mostly formal response, highlighting the lack of proper documentary evidence that could be used for comparison.
“The Petitioners’ written evidence relating to the DPT aligns with the Respondent’s photocopy and there is not a single piece of true written evidence according to the Petitioners found by the Relevant Party as a comparison to justify the arguments,” said the Relevant Party’s legal counsel Emilianus Jimmy Ell.
Regarding the argument about voting issues at 153 polling stations, including deceased voters, the Relevant Party stated that no objections had been raised by the Petitioners’ witnesses at those 153 polling stations.
The Relevant Party also mentioned that of the 153 polling stations, the Petitioners obtained the most votes in 37 polling stations. “Thus, the Petitioners’ argument regarding fraud at 153 polling stations is vague and wrong,” said Ell.
Meanwhile, the Manokwari Bawaslu confirmed that no violations regarding the deceased voters had happened at the 153 polling stations. They also assured that no objections or special incidents were recorded there.
“There were no deceased voters who voted,” said Manokwari Bawaslu chairman Samsudin Renuat.
During the 2024 Manokwari regent election, the Manokwari Bawaslu recorded 10 alleged violations, including five reports and five findings. Of the findings, two were officially registered. These registered findings pertained to ASN neutrality, and as a result, they were recommended to the National Civil Service Agency (BKN).
Besides, the Manokwari Bawaslu recommended a revote. “Then, we recommended a revote at TPS 009 of Sanggeng Village. It has been followed up on December 5,” Renuat stated.
Also read: Bernard-Eddy: 153 Polling Stations Flawed in Manokwari Regency Election
At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners argued 153 problematic polling stations concerning the misuse of voters’ voting rights. Some of the problems included 23,039 cases of double voters and deceased voters. They also argued that voting rights were exercised by individuals who were not present and that the voter attendance lists were not signed.
In addition, they argued the use of leftover ballots in its entirety, reaching 100% to 102,5% without minutes. Furthermore, seven polling stations were moved a day before the election.
The Petitioners also stated that the regency election vote results are more than the gubernatorial election vote results at several polling stations.
Also read:
Petition for Case No. 213/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025
Response by the Respondent
Statement by Bawaslu
Statement by the Relevant Party
Author : Ashri Fadilla
Editor : N. Rosi
Translator : Syifa Amelia/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL) (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.
Thursday, January 30, 2025 | 17:31 WIB 166