JAKARTA, LEGAL LITERACY – The General Elections Commission (KPU) stated that the vote determination for Polling Station (TPS) 003 in Boya Baliase Village, Marawola District, Sigi Regency, was appropriate. This was conveyed by the KPU as the Respondent in a hearing led by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, accompanied by Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman and Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih for case number 166-01-01-26/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024 submitted by the National Awakening Party (PKB) regarding the election of candidates for members of the Sigi Regency DPRD, Sigi Electoral District 5.

“Regarding the recount at Polling Station 003 in Boya Baliase Village, Marawola District, Sigi Regency, during the Recapitulation at the District level, the number of valid votes is in accordance with the list of permanent voters who cast their votes on February 14, 2024, totaling 208,” said Aulia Nugraha Sutra Ashary, Legal Counsel for the Respondent at the hearing held in Panel Courtroom 3, Tuesday (14/05/2024).

KPU explained that because there was a difference of 1 vote between the total number of valid votes and invalid votes between Form C-Results and what was read out during the Recapitulation at the District Level, there were objections from political party witnesses present at that time, namely the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Nasdem Party, and the National Mandate Party. Due to these objections, the Marawola District Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu Kecamatan) recommended opening the ballot box to recount the ballots for the election of the Sigi Regency/City DPRD, Sigi Electoral District 5. After opening the box and recounting, there were corrections to the valid vote acquisition in Form C-Results for four political parties, one of which was the Petitioner.

Regarding PKB's argument stating that the Respondent's votes increased from 20 votes to 29 votes in Uwemanje Village, Kinovaro District, Sigi Regency Polling Station 5, the KPU explained that the Kinovaro District Election Supervisory Committee issued an oral recommendation during the plenary session for correction/examination of invalid votes, which was agreed upon by all political party witnesses present. After correcting the number of invalid votes, there was a change from 48 invalid votes to 8 invalid votes.

Based on the explanation provided, the KPU requests the Court to accept and grant all of the Respondent's exceptions, and in the main subject matter, to reject all of the Petitioner's requests and declare correct the Decree of the General Elections Commission Number 360 of 2024.

In this case, there is a related party, namely the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). In its statement, the related party stated that the vote acquisition in Sigi Electoral District 5 for the election of the Regency/City DPRD was 2,189 votes for PKB and 2,190 votes for PDI-P. The related party stated that the votes determined in Sigi Electoral District 5 for the election of the Regency/City DPRD were correct and in accordance with the vote results determined by the Respondent.

“The Related Party's votes are 2,190 while the Petitioner's votes are 2,189. The same as determined by the Respondent,” said Michael Kantor Germansa, legal counsel for the Related Party.

The related party explained that the vote correction was carried out due to an input error from C Results to D Results at Polling Station 3 in Boya Village, Marawola District, Sigi Regency.

The Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) conveyed that during the Recapitulation of Vote Acquisition Calculation Results at the Regency Level on March 4, 2024, there were witnesses who did not sign the Minutes and Certificate of Recapitulation of DPRD Vote Acquisition Results, including PKB witnesses who expressed objections to the vote acquisition at Polling Station 03 in Boya Baliase Village and Polling Station 05 in Uwemanje Village.

During the Recapitulation of Vote Result Calculation at the District Level on February 26, 2024, the Marawola District Election Supervisory Committee recommended opening the ballot box to recount the ballots used at Polling Station 03 in Boya Baliase Village. After the recount, there were corrections to the acquisition of valid and invalid votes.

Furthermore, Bawaslu explained that during the Recapitulation of Vote Result Calculation at the District Level, there was an objection from a PDI-P witness regarding the number of invalid ballots at Polling Station 05 in Uwemanje Village. After the recount, the results showed a change.