Constitutional Democracy and the Challenges of Election Administration in the Era of Digital Disruption

Abstract

Digital disruption has fundamentally transformed the electoral landscape in Indonesia, shifting political campaigns and discourse into cyberspace. This transformation presents a paradox for constitutional democracy: on the one hand, technology offers potential efficiency through innovations such as e-voting; on the other hand, it has become a primary vector for the spread of disinformation, hoaxes, and hate speech that undermine election integrity, erode public trust, and deepen social polarization. The existing legal framework for elections, particularly law no. 7 of 2017, has proven inadequate to effectively regulate the dynamics of digital campaigns and address cyber threats, leaving election organizers (the general elections commission (KPU) and the elections supervisory agency (bawaslu) often in a reactive position. This study aims to analyze the impact of digital disruption, particularly disinformation, on the integrity of election administration and constitutional democracy in Indonesia, evaluate the adequacy of the legal framework for elections in addressing digital challenges, and examine the legal, technical, and social feasibility of implementing technological innovations such as e-voting. This study uses a normative legal method with a legislative approach. The analysis is conducted on the 1945 constitution, law no. The study examined law no. 7 of 2017 concerning elections, the electronic information and transactions law (UU ITE), and regulations from the general elections commission (KPU) and the elections supervisory agency (bawaslu) to assess the gap between legal norms and the reality of digital challenges. It found that current election regulations have significant legal gaps regarding the oversight and enforcement of campaign violations on social media, such as trolling and non-transparent political advertising. Oversight efforts by bawaslu and the KPU tend to be reactive (e.g., content takedowns) and rely heavily on collaboration with other institutions such as the ministry of communication and information. The implementation of e-voting is hampered by three main obstacles: the lack of a comprehensive legal basis, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and low public trust in digital systems. Digital disruption poses a fundamental threat to Indonesia's electoral democracy that has not been mitigated by the existing legal and institutional framework. Comprehensive reform of the elections law is needed to specifically regulate digital campaigns, ensure transparency of funds, and implement strict sanctions. Furthermore, strengthening the technical and digital forensic capacity of bawaslu and the KPU is a necessity, which must be balanced with a national digital literacy program to build community resilience against disinformation.