The Urgency and Reconstruction of Bawaslu’s Investigative Authority over Electoral Crimes at the National and Regional Levels
Main Article Content
Abstract
Indonesia’s electoral law enforcement system continues to face structural and functional problems, particularly because investigative authority over electoral crimes rests with the Indonesian National Police, while the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) primarily performs supervisory, detection, and reporting functions through the Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Gakkumdu). In practice, this coordination-based model encounters constraints including limited processing time, differences in institutional interpretation, weak coordination, and uncertainty in case resolution. This study aims to analyze the urgency of granting investigative authority to Bawaslu and to formulate a reconstruction of that authority from the perspectives of constitutional law and electoral law enforcement. The study employs a normative juridical method with statutory and conceptual approaches through an examination of primary and secondary legal materials. The findings indicate that granting investigative authority to Bawaslu has a defensible constitutional and legal basis, particularly in light of popular sovereignty, the distinctive nature of electoral crimes, the lex specialis principle, and Bawaslu’s status as an independent state institution. From an institutional and effectiveness perspective, such authority could shorten the case-handling chain, improve responsiveness to violations, and strengthen the independence of electoral law enforcement. The authority could be reconstructed through the establishment of a Special Electoral Investigation Unit (UPSP), accompanied by amendments to the Election Law, technical regulations governing investigative procedures, enhanced investigator capacity, and ethical and oversight mechanisms to prevent abuse of authority. Accordingly, strengthening Bawaslu’s investigative authority is a strategic step toward building a more effective, expeditious, independent, and accountable electoral law enforcement system.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Ab Rahman, A., Lokman, N. W., Zain, L. M., Omar, S. M. N. S., & Gunardi, S. (2022). Analisis faktor-faktor gejala rasuah dan cabaran menanganinya di Malaysia: Analysis the factors of corruption and the challenges of preventing it in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, 10(1), 90–97.
Alaydrus, A., Sos, S., Jamal, M. S., Nurmiyati, N., & S IP, M. I. P. (2023). Pengawasan Pemilu: Membangun integritas, menjaga demokrasi. Penerbit Adab.
Asshiddiqie, J. (2006). Konstitusi dan konstitusionalisme Indonesia. Konstitusi Press.
Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum Republik Indonesia. (2019). Laporan akhir pengawasan Pemilu tahun 2019. Bawaslu RI.
Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum Republik Indonesia. (2023, July 14). Menguatnya kewenangan dan Bawaslu Kabupaten/Kota jadi permanen dalam UU Pemilu 7/2017. Bawaslu.
Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum Republik Indonesia. (2024, February 27). Registrasi 1.023 temuan dan laporan, Bawaslu temukan 479 dugaan pelanggaran Pemilu 2024. Bawaslu.
Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum Republik Indonesia, Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, & Kejaksaan Republik Indonesia. (2020). Peraturan Bersama antara Bawaslu, Kepolisian, dan Kejaksaan Nomor 5 Tahun 2020, Nomor 1 Tahun 2020, dan Nomor 14 Tahun 2020 tentang Sentra Penegakan Hukum Terpadu.
Daeli, F., Winarni, H., & Umar, R. (2024). Penanganan tindak pidana Pemilu di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta melalui implementasi wewenang Sentra Gakkumdu (penegakan hukum terpadu). Fortiori Law Journal, 4(2), 100–117.
Dango, N., Badu, L. W. B. W., & Muhtar, M. H. (2025). Efektivitas Sentra Gakkumdu dalam penegakan hukum terhadap tindak pidana Pemilu 2024 di Kabupaten Bone Bolango. Jurnal Polahi, 3(2), 34–47.
De Vera, R. (2021). Electoral law and enforcement in the Philippines: Challenges of the COMELEC system. Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 16(3), 233–249.
Hasyim, A., & Yasir, J. (2022). Transformasi Bawaslu sebagai penegak keadilan Pemilu. Arus Jurnal Sosial dan Humaniora, 2(3), 244–248.
Hermawan, A. A. (2022). Investigasi dalam proses penanganan pelanggaran Pemilu. Awasia: Jurnal Pemilu dan Demokrasi, 2(1), 46–58.
International IDEA. (2021). The independence of electoral management bodies: Principles and practice. International IDEA.
Irawan, Y. H., Nasir, M., & Bahreisy, B. (2025). Peran Sentra Penegakan Hukum Terpadu dalam penanganan pelanggaran Pemilu tahun 2024 (studi penelitian Sentra Bawaslu Kota Lhokseumawe). Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Fakultas Hukum Universitas Malikussaleh, 8(2).
Jamaludin, A. (2023). Mendudukan ulang peran dan wewenang penanganan pelanggaran tindak pidana Pemilu oleh Badan Pengawas Pemilihan Umum. Jurnal Keadilan Pemilu, 4(1), 90–102.
Junaidi, M. (2020). Tindak pidana Pemilu dan Pilkada oleh Sentra Penegakan Hukum Terpadu. Jurnal Ius Constituendum, 5(2), 220–234.
Jurdi, F. (2018). Pengantar hukum pemilihan umum. Kencana.
Kusnadi, R., & Wibowo, S. (2020). Efektivitas Sentra Gakkumdu dalam penegakan hukum Pemilu. Jurnal Hukum dan Pembangunan, 50(3), 421–438.
Lopez, R. (2020). Electoral law enforcement in emerging democracies: Comparative lessons from Asia and Latin America. Journal of Electoral Studies, 18(2), 145–162.
Maggetti, M. (2010). Legitimacy and accountability of independent regulatory agencies: A critical review. Living Reviews in Democracy, 2.
Mahfud MD. (2011). Membangun politik hukum, menegakkan konstitusi. Rajawali Pers.
Maulana, R. (2021). Desain khusus hukum pidana pemilihan umum berdasarkan Undang-Undang Nomor 7 Tahun 2017 tentang Pemilihan Umum. Indonesian Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (IJCLC), 2(3), 135–146.
Polri Lampung. (2024, February 15). Polri: Kasus tindak pidana Pemilu ada 322 laporan, turun dibandingkan 2019. Tribrata News Lampung.
Ramadani, R. (2020). Lembaga negara independen di Indonesia dalam perspektif konsep Independent Regulatory Agencies. Jurnal Hukum Ius Quia Iustum, 27(1), 169–192.
Ramadani, R., & Arifin, M. Y. R. (2023). The independent state commission in Indonesia: A comparative review of its institutional aspects. Jurnal Al-Dustur, 6(2), 124–138.
Ramadani, R., & Buana, A. P. (2020, December). The needed but unwanted independent regulatory agencies: Questioning their legitimacy and control in Indonesia. In The 2nd International Conference of Law, Government and Social Justice (ICOLGAS 2020) (pp. 674–684). Atlantis Press.
Rangkuty, P. R., Sagala, L. F., Zhafira, N. N., Syam, T. A., Latifah, S. N., & Ritonga, A. E. (2025). Efektivitas pengawasan Bawaslu dalam mencegah kecurangan Pemilu. Konstitusi: Jurnal Studi Hukum, 1(2), 1–8.
Schedler, A. (2019). The politics of uncertainty: Sustaining and subverting electoral authoritarianism. Oxford University Press.
Seac, A. E. F., Cengkeng, A., & Hakim, L. (2023). Penguatan Bawaslu dalam penegakan hukum pidana Pemilu. Jurnal Ilmu Hukum dan Demokrasi, 5(2), 101–115.
Sirate, A. I. S. I. (2025). Penanganan tindak pidana Pemilu pada Badan Pengawas Pemilu (suatu studi di Bawaslu Konawe Selatan). Sultra Law Review, 3571–3585.
Syawawi, R. (2020). Konstitusionalitas kemandirian lembaga penyelenggara pemilihan umum (analisis Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 81/PUU-IX/2011). Jurnal Ilmiah Penegakan Hukum, 7(2), 98–116.
Waruwu, S., Waruwu, S., Zega, Y., & Halawa, O. (2025). Analisis efektivitas sistem pengawasan internal dalam meningkatkan kinerja Bawaslu Kabupaten Nias dalam Pilkada serentak tahun 2024. Arus Jurnal Sosial dan Humaniora, 5(2), 2758–2767.
Yonabe, S., Rizky, A. W., & Sangalang, S. (2026). Penegakan hukum tindak pidana politik uang dalam perspektif keadilan substantif dan kriminologi. Al-Zayn: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial & Hukum, 4(3), 6210–6225.