Jakarta, LiterasiHukum.com – The Constitutional Court (MK) today, Wednesday (17/9/2025), decided to reject the lawsuit regarding the dispute over the results of the Papua gubernatorial election filed by candidate pair number 1, Benhur Tomi Mano and Constant Karma. This means that the results of the Papua Gubernatorial Election (Pilgub) remain valid as previously announced. The main claim from Benhur-Constant is the anomaly in the number of voters, where they claim that the number of voters in the Re-Voting (PSU) on August 6, 2025, exceeded 100% of the Permanent Voter List (DPT). However, after careful examination, the Constitutional Court stated that the claim was not true.

What Does the Constitutional Court Say?

Constitutional Justice Ridwan Mansyur explained several important points in the Constitutional Court's decision:
  1. Misunderstanding of Voter Data: The Constitutional Court considers that the plaintiff misunderstood the difference between the number of people registered as voters (DPT) and the number of people who actually used their right to vote. The information presented by the plaintiff became inappropriate due to this misunderstanding.
  2. The Number of Voters Actually Decreased: The fact found by the Constitutional Court actually shows that the number of voters in the PSU (around 521 thousand people) was less than during the simultaneous election on November 27, 2024 (around 545 thousand people). So, there was no addition of illegal voters, but rather a reasonable decrease.
  3. No Evidence of Cheating: The Constitutional Court did not find any reports or evidence from the election supervisor (Bawaslu) indicating that the number of voters actually exceeded 100% in the DPT. Therefore, the Constitutional Court is not convinced that there was fraud that benefited other candidate pairs (Matius Fakhiri-Aryoko Alberto Ferdinand Rumaropen) or harmed the plaintiff.
  4. Choosing or Not Choosing Is a Right: Justice Ridwan Mansyur also reminded that every citizen has the right to vote or not to vote. No one can force it. So, the rise and fall in the number of voters, including those registered in the Special Voter List (DPK), is natural and cannot be used as a reason to force voters.

Lawsuit Regarding Changes in Votes Also Failed

In addition to the voter number issue, the plaintiff also complained about changes in vote acquisition at several Polling Stations (TPS). However, the Constitutional Court also rejected this argument. The Constitutional Court considers the plaintiff's explanation incomplete. They did not detail who changed the votes, when the change occurred, and whether the plaintiff had reported this objection to Bawaslu in stages. Due to the lack of detail and clear evidence in the report, the Constitutional Court cannot further consider these allegations of vote changes. Thus, all accusations and lawsuits from the candidate pair Benhur Tomi Mano-Constant Karma were rejected, and the results of the Papua gubernatorial election were declared legally valid. News Source: This article is a paraphrase of the official news release from the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (HUMAS MKRI) on September 17, 2025.