THE EXISTENCE OF WITNESSES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN INDONESIA

Abstract This research is motivated bythe condition that the existence of witnesses in the General Election process does not have a clear position, while the position of witnesses in the General Election process is essentially very important as the spearhead of the implementation of a just General Election.This study aims to discussthe nature of the existence of witnesses in the implementation of general elections, whether the provisions on witnesses in the laws and regulations relating to general elections have guaranteed the existence of witnesses in accordance with their nature, and what is the ideal construction of the provisions on witnesses in the implementation of general elections in Indonesia. This research is a type offield research type research, with a qualitative form that is exploratory-descriptive in natureby using Philosophical, Statute, Conceptual and Comparative Approaches. The results of this study indicate that, the essence of the existence of witnesses in the implementation of General Elections in Indonesia as guardians of justice and the validity of General Election Results, Informal Legal Supervisors, and guarantors of Political Legitimacy in the Implementation of General Elections. the regulation and implementation of witnesses in the old order era (orla) were still integrated with the organizers of General Elections, the new order era (orba), General Election witnesses were witnessed by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia (ABRI), and the Reformation Order and Post-Reformation eras witnesses were still integrated with the organizers of General Elections which degraded the independence of witnesses. The concept of Reconstruction of the existence of witnesses that are just is based on the certainty of just regulations regarding the independence of witnesses. The suggestions that the author can give from this research are:expect the Government to restore the existence of witnesses in accordance with the nature of their existence as guarantors of the validity of the results of the General Election, informal law enforcers, and guarantors of political legitimacy in the implementation of the General Election by making changes to Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections based on certainty and justice.