JAKARTA, LEGAL LITERACY – The General Elections Commission (KPU) has confirmed that it is not true that the acquisition of votes for the NasDem Party was influenced by the Head of the KPPS at TPS 7, Malawele Village, and one of the KPPS members at TPS 18, Malawele Village, who are members of the Political Party and also Legislative Candidates from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). This was conveyed by the KPU as the Respondent in a trial led by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat, accompanied by Constitutional Justice Anwar Usman and Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih regarding the Dispute over General Election Results in response to the petition submitted by the NasDem Party.

"It is not true that the Head of the KPPS at TPS 7, Malawele Village, Aimas District, Sorong Regency, and one of the KPPS members at TPS 18, Malawele Village, Aimas District, Sorong Regency, who are members of the Political Party and also Legislative Candidates from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), influenced the Petitioner's votes," said Matheus Mamun Sare, Attorney for the Respondent at the Trial held in Panel 3 Trial Room on Wednesday (08/05/2024).

Furthermore, Matheus said that there was no shift in votes that harmed the NasDem party at TPS 7 and TPS 18, Malawele Village, Aimas District. According to Matheus, the vote count at TPS 7 and TPS 18 was carried out in accordance with the existing regulations and there were no objections from the political parties present. In addition, the KPU has never received a recommendation from the Sorong Regency Bawaslu related to this application.

In response to the explanation that has been given, the Respondent requests the Court to accept and grant all of the Respondent's exceptions in the exception, and to reject all of the Petitioner's requests in the subject matter and to declare the General Election Commission Decree Number 360 of 2024 correct.

Meanwhile, in the trial for case number 133-01-05-38/PHPU.DPR-DPRD-XXII/2024, Bawaslu provided information that they had received a report from the NasDem party in Sorong Regency. The follow-up taken by Bawaslu was to issue a recommendation to KPPS 07, which included violations of the code of ethics for election organizers and the dismissal of KPPS 07. For TPS 18, Bawaslu followed up with a recommendation for a Re-Vote (PSU). According to Bawaslu, the NasDem Party's vote acquisition was 1,280 votes, while PKS obtained 1,344 votes.

"NasDem 1,280 votes and PKS 1,344 votes based on the final recapitulation," said Farli Sampetoding Rego, Representative of Bawaslu.

Apart from the KPU and Bawaslu, the Related Party, PKS, stated that the claim that the Related Party's votes amounted to 239 votes and there was an addition of 12 votes for the Petitioner was not true, because it was not supported by evidence from the Petitioner as a basis for comparing the difference. Furthermore, the Petitioner's application does not explain the basis for comparing the vote acquisition between the Respondent and the Petitioner. The Petitioner also did not compare the C-Results copy of the Regency/City DPRD data with the D-Results copy of the Regency/City DPRD.

"the Related Party's votes amounted to 239 votes and the addition of the Petitioner's votes of 12 votes is not true because it is not based on the petitioner's evidence as material for comparing the difference. Furthermore, the Petitioner's application does not explain the basis for comparing the vote acquisition according to the Respondent and the Petitioner. The Petitioner did not compare the C-Results copy of the Regency/City DPRD data with the D-Results copy of the Regency/City DPRD," said Riki Sambora, attorney for the Related Party.

The Related Party stated that the allegation that the Head of the KPPS at TPS 7, Malawele Village, and one of the KPPS members at TPS 18, Malawele Village, who are members of the Political Party and also Legislative Candidates from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), is a contrived reason to cancel the acquisition of votes that has been determined by the Respondent.

Previously, in the preliminary hearing, the Petitioner argued that there was a difference in the number of votes between the NasDem Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) according to the Petitioner and Respondent (General Elections Commission) in the Sorong Electoral District 1. According to the Petitioner, the NasDem Party should have received 1,268 votes, but the Respondent determined the number to be 1,280 votes. Meanwhile, for PKS, according to the Petitioner, the number of votes should have been 1,105, but the Respondent determined it to be 1,344 votes.

The Petitioner also argued that there was a violation because the Head of the KPPS at TPS 7 and one of the KPPS members at TPS 18, both located in Malawele Village, Aimas District, Sorong Regency, were members of the Political Party and also Legislative Candidates from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Based on the arguments presented, the Petitioner requests the Constitutional Court to grant all of the petitioner's requests, cancel the General Election Commission Decree Number 360 of 2024, and determine the correct vote acquisition results according to the Petitioner or order the Respondent to conduct a re-vote.