Court orders election reruns, discovers abuse of power

The Constitutional Court has wrapped up all of the sessions to adjudicate regional election disputes and handed down several key rulings, including the most significant one, which was a vote rerun in several regions. The election reruns will be held amid the government’s austerity measures that may compromise the fair and transparent principles of the democratic process.

Of the 310 objections that candidates submitted to the Court following the Nov. 27, 2024 simultaneous regional head elections, 227 were deemed unacceptable, 29 were withdrawn, eight lacked the necessary supporting documentation and six were considered to fall outside the Court's jurisdiction.

In the end, the Court only heard 40 election disputes, three of which were filed by losing gubernatorial candidates, three by losing mayoral candidates and 34 by losing candidates for regent posts.

In its rulings, the Court ordered election reruns in 24 regions, including the Papua Province, cities of Banjarbaru, Sabang and Palopo, as well as 20 regencies.

In addition, the Court ruled a repeat of vote counting in the Puncak Jaya election and correction of the election result documents by the Jayapura poll body.

The Court declared a vote rerun in 24 regions imperative due to maladministration by the election organizers, such as miscalculation of the number of eligible voters, incomplete documents submitted by candidates and candidates’ criminal records that went unchecked.

However, the Court also ordered a vote rerun in several regions upon recommendations of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), which found massive and systemic election fraud, as well as intimidation against voters.

Alleged abuse of power has also given the Court justification to order the polls body to repeat the regional head election in Serang Regency, Banten. The Court accepted a claim by the losing candidate pair Andika Hazrumy and Nanang Supriatna that Villages and Regional Development Minister Yandri Susanto had abused his authority to help his wife, Ratu Rachmatu Zakiyah, win the race.

Andika and his running mate Nanang Supriatna accused Ratu's camp of committing "structural, systematic and massive fraud" with the help of her husband.

In its ruling, the Court found that Yandi, a politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN), was proven to have "hosted and attended events in which he mobilized village heads" to support Ratu, thereby compromising the neutrality of local officials who were viewed by the Court as having significant roles in wooing voters in their respective villages.

Pressures have mounted on President Prabowo Subianto to dismiss Yandri for intervening with the electoral process, while civil society group Lokataru Foundation plans to file a report with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) against the minister for alleged vote buying.

In response to the court’s rulings, the House of Representatives Commission II, which oversees election activities, criticized the General Elections Commission (KPU), Bawaslu and Elections Ethics Council (DKPP) for failing to administer regional elections well.

The vote reruns in 24 regions are estimated to cost Rp 1 trillion (US$61.26 million). The KPU will have to allocate an extra Rp 486 billion and Bawaslu Rp 251 billion.

The concurrent regional head elections last November already cost the country Rp 37.43 trillion.

At a time of budget efficiency, the government will struggle to provide the money to organize the election reruns. The government has cut the budget allocation for ministries, government agencies and state institutions, including the KPU and Bawaslu, as well as fiscal transfers to regional governments. The efficiency measures are needed to fund President Prabowo Subianto ’s flagship programs, such as the free nutritious meal program, food security and food estates.

The vote reruns will be held separately from March to August of this year. Some of the elected regional heads who have to face the vote reruns took part in the recent retreat at the Military Academy in Magelang, Cental Java.