<![CDATA[The transformation of Indonesia's electoral system in the post-reformation era has experienced significant dynamics with the emergence of Constitutional Court Decision Number 135/PUU-XXII/2024, which separates the implementation of national and regional elections with a time gap of 2 to 2.5 years. This decision fundamentally changes the paradigm of simultaneous five-ballot elections implemented in the 2019 and 2024 Elections, which raised substantial technical and procedural issues related to the coattail effect phenomenon and local democracy quality. This research analyzes two principal problems: first, the constitutional foundation for separating national and regional elections within Indonesia's electoral system framework; second, the implications of electoral separation on the coattail effect in regional head elections and local democracy strengthening. The research employs a normative legal approach utilizing statute and conceptual approaches. The findings indicate that the Constitutional Court Decision possesses a robust constitutional foundation grounded in popular sovereignty principles, fulfillment of direct, general, free, secret, honest, and fair election principles (Luber Jurdil), and democratic interpretation in regional head elections, aiming to realize substantive and procedural democracy. Constitutional Court Decision Number 135/PUU-XXII/2024 provides transformative implications for strengthening local democracy in Indonesia. This separation transforms the coattail effect into a diffused, performance-based coattail effect emphasizing governmental accountability over popularity. It creates space for autonomous local political dynamics, enhancing democratic quality through increased voter rationality, strengthened vertical accountability, improved checks and balances, and higher-quality political contestation aligned with deliberative democracy principles.]]>
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