The Role of Regional General Election Commission to Prevent Null Vote: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Every five years the Indonesian state holds General Elections, one of which is the Presidential Election or General Election for the President and Vice President which adheres to the LUBER JURDIL principle. The holding of General Elections is not far from the actions of the people who practice Abstentions. The percentage of Abstentions in Sidoarjo Regency in the 2019 Presidential Election was 18.12%. One of the causes of Abstentions is because people adhere to a typology of pragmatism, that is, if they are going to vote, they do not look at the vision and mission but from what they get from the candidate pair. Abstentions are regulated in articles 442 and 443 of Law Number 7 of 2017 Concerning General Elections. KPU Sidoarjo Regency has a very important role to play in minimizing the number of Abstentions by conducting outreach to all levels of society about the importance of General Elections.The focus of the research in this study are: 1.) What caused the White Group to occur in the 2019 General Election for President and Vice President in Sidoarjo Regency? 2.) What is the role or strategy of the Sidoarjo Regency KPU in minimizing or reducing the number of Whites in the 2019 General Election for President and Vice President. The research method uses a type of empirical juridical research with data collection techniques namely observation, interviews, and documentation. This study uses descriptive data analysis. The validity of the data in this thesis uses source triangulation which explores data from different points of view.The results of this study are 1.) The causes of abstaining from the people of Sidoarjo Regency are dominated by a typology of pragmatic society where if they vote they do not see their vision and mission but what they get when they are about to vote. The absence of sanctions in Law Number 7 of 2017 Concerning General Elections results in people easily committing Abstentions, 2.) The Sidoarjo Regency KPU's role in minimizing the Abstentions figure is guided by KPU Regulation Number 10 of 2018 Concerning Socialization, Voter Education and Participation Society in the Implementation of General Elections. Suggestions from research for the public to be aware of the importance of elections and not to vote for Abstentions and for the KPU so that the TPS locations are not too far away so that people can easily reach them when they want to vote.