The Authority of the Aceh Province General Election Supervisory Board in Resolving Administrative Violations in the 2024 Legislative Election

Article 95, Article 461, Article 462, Article 463, Article 464, and Article 465 of Law No. 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (Election Law) regulate one of the authorities of the General Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in handling Election violations, stating that Bawaslu is authorized to receive all forms of Election violations, thoroughly examine the categories of Election violations, and issue decisions or recommendations regarding administrative violations in Elections. This is further elaborated in Article 4 of the General Election Supervisory Body Regulation (Perbawaslu) No.8 of 2022, which outlines the authority of Bawaslu. According to the Perbawaslu, Bawaslu has the authority to receive all forms of Election violations, thoroughly examine the categories of Election violations, and issue decisions or recommendations regarding administrative violations in Elections. Through Article 95 of the Election Law and Article 4 of Perbawaslu, it is explained that Bawaslu’s authority, which also belongs to the judiciary within the judicial branch of power, is related to the authority to "decide" on administrative Election violations and disputes within the Election process. However, despite such broad authority, the Election Supervisory Body of Aceh Province still encounters many violations. Among the violation data, there are 15 administrative violations, including: 7 in Aceh Province; 5 in North Aceh Regency; 1 in Pidie Regency; and 2 in Pidie Jaya Regency. From this, Bawaslu Aceh issued decisions and recommendations that were considered weak in exercising its authority as mandated by the Election Law and Perbawaslu No. 8 of 2022.