Legal Analysis Regarding Ex-Convicts as Election Contestants Based on the Indonesian Constitutional Court Decision

,Ex-convicts must wait for a five-year gap after passing their prison term and announce their background if they want to run for governor, regent, or mayor, according to the Constitutional Court's decision Number 56/PUU-XVII/2019. The election of regional heads is an activity in the context of implementing a government system in the form of democracy. In the implementation of regional head elections, to get quality regional leaders, it takes qualified candidates promoted by political parties as well as those who run independently. Among the requirements for a regional head candidate, both at the provincial and district/city levels, a candidate must not be in a status of an ex-convict. The research method in this research was normative juridical. This research shows that based on the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, ex-convicts are also citizens who have the same political rights as other citizens. The existence of a provision that is a requirement to run as a candidate for the regional head in the election clearly limits or even negates a person's right to participate in exercising their rights. The decision of Constitutional Court No.42/PUUXIII/2015 states that ex-convicts can participate in regional head elections with certain conditions.