During a hearing on Thursday, the court ruled in favor of petitioners in a judicial review against articles of the 2016 Regional Election law on revotes in the case of uncontested regional head candidates failing to win enough votes to win the race.

Should the sole candidate pair fail to garner more than 50 percent of the total vote, the law stated that the “blank box” will be declared the election winner, prompting the election organizer to hold a revote “the following year” or “at a later scheduled time according to the prevailing regulations”.

Plaintiffs argued that the latter phrase could potentially cause multiple interpretations and legal uncertainty pertaining to the election rerun, given that the prevailing law mandates regional elections to be held every five years.

The court agreed with the plaintiffs, Chief Justice Suhartoyo said in Thursday’s hearing that the provision contravened the 1945 Constitution and lacked clarity.

“The subsequent election must be conducted within a maximum of one year from the date of the initial vote,” Suhartoyo stated in the ruling.

Justices also asserted that regional head pairs elected during the election rerun would serve until the inauguration of their successors elected in the following elections, “provided it does not exceed a five-year term from their inauguration date”.