Prevent Repeated PSU, Quality of Election Organizers Asked to be Considered

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Ahead of the 2024 Regional Head Election re-vote in 24 regions as mandated by the Constitutional Court, the General Elections Commission and the Election Supervisory Agency have been urged to ensure that their officials in those regions do not repeat the same mistakes. Election organizers need to be reminded that they bear a significant responsibility to ensure that the elections are conducted honestly and fairly.

The Head of the Department of Politics and Government Science at Diponegoro University, Nur Hidayat Sardini, during a discussion titled "Candidate Disqualification, Evaluation of Organizers, and Supervision of Regional Elections Post-Constitutional Court Decision" in Jakarta, Wednesday (26/2/2025), stated that technical issues at polling stations (TPS) and the lack of proficiency of the Voting Organizing Group (KPPS) were the main reasons behind the Constitutional Court's (MK) decision regarding the re-voting (PSU) in 24 regions.

In addition, during the discussion event organized by the Election and Democracy Academy, Nur mentioned other issues, such as the practice of money politics and the neutrality of civil servants.

He provided an example from North Barito, Central Kalimantan, where a voter exercised their voting rights more than once. The Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) had actually issued a recommendation for a re-vote at TPS 1 Melayu, Taweh Tengah, and TPS 4 Melawaren Taweh Baru. "However, Bawaslu's recommendation was ignored by the local KPU," he said.

Then, in Magetan, East Java, a voter at Polling Station 01 Nguri named Surya Ardianto signed the attendance list under the name Suryaningsih. In fact, Suryaningsih is overseas. Additionally, six voters were denied their right to vote at Polling Station 09 Selotinatah.

Another example, in Bungo Regency, Jambi Province, there was an order for a re-vote at 21 polling stations because voters were found to only present family cards, as well as instances of multiple ballot papers being cast at once.

Nur Hidayat stated that the lack of proficiency among election organizers, as demonstrated by several examples, contributes to the problem, necessitating the holding of a re-vote (PSU) that will consume a significant amount of state funds.

Therefore, ahead of the PSU to be conducted in 24 regions, Nur Hidayat urged the KPU to work extra diligently in paying attention to the mandates of the Constitutional Court's ruling so that no legal considerations are overlooked. In other words, there should be no similar mistakes that would later require the Constitutional Court to decide on another PSU.

Also present at the discussion were Vice Chancellor II of Andalas University, Khairul Fahmi; Researcher of Election Syndication and Democracy Aqidatul Izza Zain; Chairman of Bawaslu RI for the 2017-2022 period, Abhan; Director of Hicon Law & Policy Strategies Hifdzil Alim; and Researcher of the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies, Violla Reininda.

On Monday (24/2/2025), the Constitutional Court read out its ruling on disputes over regional election results. Of the 40 regions whose rulings were read out, 24 regions had to hold a revote, either at all polling stations or only some.

In addition, there is 1 area, namely Puncak Jaya Regency, which must carry out a recapitulation in 22 of the 26 districts.

Nur Hidayat reminded that the election organizers, namely the KPU and Bawaslu, have a big responsibility to supervise the performance of the ranks below them. In the long term, Nur Hidayat assessed that there needs to be an improvement in the recruitment process for election organizers to guarantee their capacity and integrity as well as the imposition of sanctions if problems are found due to administrative and technical errors.

Of the 24 regions that had to carry out PSU, the Constitutional Court disqualified eleven regional head candidates.

Among them, three elected regional head candidates were disqualified due to administrative manipulation, namely in Papua Province, Pasaman Regency, and Palopo City. In addition, there were three candidates disqualified related to the incumbent's term of office, namely in Tasikmalaya Regency, Bengkulu Regency, and Kutai Kartanegara Regency. There were also candidates disqualified due to vote buying in Mahakam Ulu Regency.

In addition to technical and procedural issues, money politics problems were also found. In West Bangka, PSU had to be implemented at TPS 1, 2, 3, and 4, Sinar Manik after evidence was found of the distribution of Rp100,000 before voters entered the TPS and used their voting rights. Money politics also occurred in the Talaud Islands where there was a practice of distributing Rp50,000 as reported by Bawaslu.

The Chairman of Bawaslu RI for the 2017-2022 period, Abhan, said that these things could actually be minimized if Bawaslu carried out its duties properly to supervise the nomination stage. "If there is supervision and recommendations from Bawaslu, but it is not followed up, then it is the KPU's fault. However, it could be that Bawaslu has limited access to information from the KPU," said Abhan.

Meanwhile, Bawaslu member Puadi said that the disqualification of 11 regional head candidates by the Constitutional Court indicated that there were fundamental problems in the nomination verification process, especially in fulfilling administrative requirements and the substance of the nomination.

"In addition, the implementation of the PSU also reflects administrative errors, procedural violations, and disruptions in the implementation of the election, which affect the legitimacy of the election results," he said.

According to Puadi, as an election supervisory institution, Bawaslu has carried out its function by supervising the nomination process and providing information in the election dispute trial at the Constitutional Court. However, in practice, there are challenges in implementing recommendations and coordinating with the KPU, where not all Bawaslu recommendations are accommodated.

“As a result, the final resolution often depends on the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which ultimately has to correct various problems that could have been prevented from the early stages of the nomination process,” he said.

Until this news was published, KPU Chairman Mochammad Afifuddin and KPU Member August Mellaz had not yet responded to the assumption that there were unprofessional election organizers so that the Constitutional Court held a revote.

However, on Tuesday (26/2/2024), Afif said that his party was studying the Constitutional Court's decision in its entirety for each application at the Constitutional Court.