Dispute over legislative election results, from friend to foe

The Democrats asked the Constitutional Court to "return" the party's votes which were allegedly transferred to PAN in the East Kalimantan electoral district.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

President and Vice President-elect, Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, held a press conference after receiving their appointment letters as elected President and Vice President at the KPU Building in Jakarta on Wednesday (24/4/2024).

Several political parties, in a dispute over the results of the legislative elections filed with the Constitutional Court, argue that the votes obtained by candidates for the People's Representative Council have decreased due to the transfer of votes to other political parties. The vote transfer is said to have occurred not only from one party to another from a different camp in the presidential election, but also between parties within the same coalition.

Disputes over the results of legislative elections (pileg) between political parties in the same presidential election coalition include the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) in West Kalimantan as well as PAN and the Golkar Party in West Java. Both the Democrats, PAN and Golkar are supporters of the elected presidential-vice presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka who are members of the Advanced Indonesia Coalition.

In the dispute over the results of the general election (PHPU) for the members of parliament, which was filed to the Constitutional Court (MK), the Democratic Party argued that their vote count for the election of parliament members in the East Kalimantan electoral district decreased. On the contrary, the vote count for the National Mandate Party (PAN) increased. As a result, the vote count for the Democratic Party was lower than PAN, putting the Democratic Party at risk of losing the last seat in the East Kalimantan district electoral zone.

Based on KPU's Decision Number 360/2024 regarding the National Election Results in Kaltim, the Democrat Party obtained 110,752 votes. Meanwhile, PAN received 111,141 votes. The difference in votes between the two parties was only 389 votes.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The potential presidential candidate of the Indonesian Forward Coalition, Prabowo Subianto (left), holds hands with the General Chairman of the Democratic Party, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, during a declaration of support at the Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, on Thursday (21/9/2023).

Although it may be a narrow margin, the difference in votes will have a significant impact on the acquisition of seats in the district's DPR. Based on the simulation of converting votes into seats using the Sainte Lague method, the last seat will be given to PAN. Meanwhile, the number of seats contested in Kaltim district is eight.

The legal counsel for the Democratic Party, Muhammad Raziv Barokah, stated that there is a difference in the vote count between the C Form Results at the district level and the D Form Results for the regency/city and provincial levels. The difference in vote recapitulation occurred in a number of polling stations (TPS) in nine regencies/cities in the Kaltim electoral district.

Also read: MK Begins Hearing Dispute on Legislative Election, Three Panel of Judges Prepared

The result of the vote recapitulation conducted by the Democratic Party showed an increase in PAN's votes by 366 votes. On the other hand, the Democratic Party had a decrease in their votes by 183 votes. This resulted in PAN having a higher vote count than the Democratic Party.

Raziv explained that the increase in PAN's votes reaching 366 occurred in the city of Balikpapan (54 votes), the city of Samarinda (11 votes), the city of Bontang (9 votes), East Kutai regency (38 votes), Kutai Kertanegara regency (142 votes), Berau regency (4 votes), Paser regency (6 votes), and North Penajam Paser regency (2 votes).

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, took a photo with his cadres after delivering a New Year speech in 2023 at the Democratic Party's Central Executive Board Office in Jakarta on Thursday (12/1/2023).

Meanwhile, the reduction of Democratic Party votes which reached 183 votes occurred in Balikpapan City (17 votes), Samarinda City (76 votes), Bontang City (2 votes), East Kutai Regency (21 votes), Kutai Kertanegara Regency (34 votes), West Kutai Regency (15 votes), Berau Regency (4 votes), Paser Regency (1 vote), and North Penajam Paser Regency (13 votes).

However, if we refer to the calculations of the Democrat Party, led by Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, they should have received 110,934 votes, while PAN obtained 110,775 votes. Therefore, the Democrat Party is ahead and entitled to the last seat in the Kaltim electoral district.

"To prove this argument, we have presented in detail Model C Result of the House of Representatives or Model C Result of the House of Representatives copy from hundreds of polling stations in nine districts/cities across East Kalimantan province juxtaposed with data from Model D Result of the District DPR and its attachments," said Raziv during a preliminary examination hearing in Panel II on Tuesday (30/4/2024).

According to Raviz, the Democratic Party's findings have been reported to the Kaltim Bawaslu. However, in its decision, Bawaslu rejected the Democratic Party's report and declared that there was no change in the vote.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

The Chairman of the Gerindra Party and presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, was accompanied by the Chairman of PAN Zulkifli Hasan (left) and the Chairman of the Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto (right) in Kertanegara, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta on Sunday evening (22/10/2023).

Hence, in the dispute over the legislative election result at the Constitutional Court, the Democratic Party requested that the court determine the correct vote count according to the Democratic Party's calculations for the filling of DPR membership in the Kaltim electoral district. The Democratic Party obtained 110,935 votes, while the PAN obtained 110,775 votes.

In addition to the Democratic Party and PAN, a dispute involving fellow KIM political parties also occurred in the West Java VI region. PAN claimed that their votes had decreased, while the votes for the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) had actually increased.

"There has been a significant decrease in votes, resulting in PAN losing the 6th seat in the Indonesian House of Representatives for the West Java VI electoral district," said PAN's legal counsel, Heru Widodo.

Based on the tiered recapitulation results for the West Java VI electoral district, the KPU has determined that PKS obtained 538,235 votes and is potentially able to secure the first and last seat. Meanwhile, Golkar obtained 421,352 votes and is potentially able to secure one seat. As for PAN, they obtained 168,637 votes but did not secure a seat in the district that has six DPR seats allocated.

Meanwhile, according to PAN's calculations, PKS gained 528,190 votes, Golkar gained 413,173 votes, and PAN gained 186,761 votes. Based on those calculations, PKS's second seat has the potential to move to PAN. Meanwhile, the one seat obtained by Golkar will not change.

Political parties can claim that their vote counting is correct and the KPU's multi-stage vote recapitulation is wrong. Participants of the 2024 legislative elections also have the right to challenge the election results that have been determined by the KPU to the Constitutional Court. However, the determination of who is correct in vote counting, whether it's the political parties or the KPU, will depend on the judges' assessment.