COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE 2020 MEDAN MAYORAL AND VICE-MAYORAL ELECTION (RESEARCH STUDY AT THE GENERAL ELECTION COMMISSION OF MEDAN)

Abstract

This research is aimed at analyzing community participation in the Me-dan’s Mayoral and Vice-Mayoral election which becomes form of democracy implementation and should of course be driven by a high orientation towards politics but not by mobilization. The research is descriptive, using empirical juridical methods which are carried out through the statutory and conceptual approaches. The results show that direct election of regional head is an affirmation of Law Number 23 of 2014 concerning regional government, Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning general election, Law Number 6 of 2020 concerning stipulation of government regulation in lieu of Law Number 2 of 2020 concerning the third amendment to Law Number 1 of 2015 concerning the stipulation of government regulations in lieu of Law Number 1 of 2014 concerning the election of governors, regents and mayors to become Laws, as well as various other organic regulations. In the election two pairs of candidates took part. The total number of permanent voters is 1,635,846 and around 748,882 (45 ,97%) voted; unluckily, there are 12,915 invalid votes. Around 874,049 (54.03%) voters did not choose, thus, the national target of up to 77.5% votes are not achieved. The election itself has obstacles, for instance, voters’ personal attitudes, the candidates’ sale worth, and technical factors of administration. The ways to over-come the obstacles are carried out by opinion leader strategy and the ball pick-up strategy. It can be concluded that public participation can be stimulated by continuous political education, especially for first-time voters, and by so doing, public awareness can increase.