TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Banjarbaru election result challenged after controversial candidate dismissal
The Banjarbaru Elections Commission (KPU) did not provide a blank box to replace a candidate disqualified from the mayoral race, and declared all votes cast for the ousted pair invalid, raising protests among voters.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A woman dips her finger in ink after casting her vote on Nov. 27, 2024, during the simultaneous regional elections, at a polling station in Surabaya, East Java. Indonesian voters elected new local leaders in the country's biggest simultaneous regional election. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
Representatives of voters and election observers in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan filed petitions with the Constitutional Court to challenge the result of the city’s mayoral election after the controversial disqualification of a candidate pair running in the race.
The petition accused the General Elections Commission’s (KPU) Banjarbaru office of carrying out unconstitutional actions in organizing the Nov. 27 mayoral race.
“[The KPU] has removed residents’ right to vote by declaring votes for the disqualified candidate invalid despite not providing a blank box on the ballots,” Pazri said on Wednesday.
The South Kalimantan provincial capital was supposed to see a two-horse race between incumbent Aditya Mufti Arifin and newcomer Erna Lisa Halaby for the mayoral election, which is part of the simultaneous regional head polls in 37 provinces and more than 500 cities and regencies.
But less than a month before voting day, the KPU disqualified Aditya after finding him in violation of the election regulations for campaigning at an official government event. The disqualification turned Erna into a sole candidate in the election.
The Regional Elections Law allows a sole candidate to run, as long as the KPU provides a blank box on the ballot papers as an option for voters to express their disagreement with the only contender.
Should the sole candidate fail to win more than 50 percent of the popular vote, the blank box is declared the winner. A reelection is then held again the next year after the initial voting day, as asserted by the Constitutional Court through a ruling issued on Nov. 14, with the hope that more eligible candidates run in the repeat poll.
