https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 e-ISSN: 2962-2816, p-ISSN: 2747-1985 DOI: https://doi. org/10. 38035/jlph. Received: 20 January 2022. Revised: 2 February 2022. Publish: 27 February 2022 https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4. Community Participation in the Selection of Nias Regent Candidates in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency in Doddie Arya Kusuma B1*. Wirasman Gea2 Universitas Ekasakti. Padang. Indonesia, email: doddiearyakusuma@ymail. Universitas Ekasakti. Padang. Indonesia, email: wirasgea@gmail. *Corresponding Author: Doddie Arya Kusuma B1 Abstract: This study aims to find out: . What is the level of community participation in selecting the candidate for Nias Regent in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency? . What are the obstacles faced by voters in choosing a candidate for Nias Regent in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency? . What solutions are given to overcome the problem of lack of community participation in the election of candidates for Nias Regent in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency? . The research method used in this research is descriptive-qualitative which is generally carried out with the aim of systematically describing the facts and characteristics of the object or subject that are examined appropriately. Data collection techniques were carried out through in-depth observations . with informants to obtain the information needed. The collected data was then analyzed using descriptive-qualitative analysis. Based on the results of the study, several results were obtained. How the level of community participation in selecting the Nias Regent candidate in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency has decreased greatly due to public distrust of the Nias Regent candidate. What obstacles faced by voters in choosing a candidate for Nias Regent in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency, were due to human resources, candidate background, past trauma, level of public awareness, intimidation, voter list determination, and money . What is the solution given to overcome the problem of lack of public participation in the election of the Nias Regent candidate in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency is to provide political education, especially to novice voters, the role of the media, political parties, increasing awareness, fairness, collecting voter list data , and choose from Keywords: Community Participation. Regional Head Election INTRODUCTION Indonesia is known as a democratic country, which makes the interests of the people come from the people themselves with the motto, "From the People for the People". The 95 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 word democracy comes from the Greek. Demo, which means people and Kratos which means So that democracy can be interpreted as government of the people, by the people, and for the people (Hornby, 1995: . Where is the government whose authority is in the hands of the people. The implementation of this democracy has been carried out long ago in various regions, until Indonesia's independence until now. Democracy in Indonesia originates from the Pancasila of the 1945 Constitution, which is then referred to as Pancasila One of the interests of the people is the existence of a leader, both in a small environment to a larger environment. In Indonesia, the term General Election (Electio. is known, of which in this country there are 4 . types, namely Legislative Elections. Elections for Level II Regional Heads (Regents/Mayor. Level I Regional Head Elections (Governo. , and Presidential Elections. presidential electio. Elections are in the public interest in determining leaders/representatives at each level (Leve. This requires the participation of people at that level in political processes and practices. Participation is meant in this case is community participation. Community participation is the activity of a person or group of people to participate actively or passively in political life, namely by choosing leaders, and directly or indirectly influencing government policies (Public Polic. general, regional head elections or what are often called Pilkada are carried out directly by local residents who meet the requirements. Another definition of Pilkada is the election of the Governor or the election of the Regent and Deputy Regent which is a means of implementing people's sovereignty in the Province and Regency/City to elect the Governor and Regent/Mayor based on Pancasila and the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. LITERATURE REVIEW Participation is the participation of the community in the process of identifying problems and potentials that exist in the community. Involvement can be in the form of mental and emotional as well as physical in using all the abilities it has . in all activities carried out and supporting the achievement of goals and responsibilities for all involvement (Budiarjo, 2. Political participation is the desire of an individual to have a role in political life through administrative involvement to exercise the right to vote. Which means, a person involves himself in participating in organizing in various political issues and carrying out various actions and movements as well as participating in campaigns to provide services to the environment with his own abilities (Arther Muhaling, 2. Community participation is a form of embodiment of a democratic state where the community is directly involved in general elections. In this theoretical study, citizens play a role in selecting officials who will later regulate the government and the actions they will take later (Suryadi, 2. Mubajir Rahaman . reveals that participation as a basic value of democracy is an important concern in public administration covering two domains, namely participatory management and public participation in political administration. According to Ach. Wajir Ws. , et al . Community participation is a person's conscious involvement in social interactions in certain situations. From the above understanding, we can conclude that a person can participate if he finds himself with a group with various processes towards others in the form of values, traditions, obedience and shared Participation is community participation in the process of identifying problems and potentials that exist in the community, selecting and making decisions about alternative solutions to problems, implementing efforts to overcome problems, and community involvement in the process of evaluating changes that occur. From this theory, it can be said 96 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 that a person's participation in participating is certainly based on the potential that exists from a person in order to identify problems both in selection and decision making as well as Participation can also be transitive or intractive, it can also be moral or According to Sofyan Muslim . 8: . Political participation can be seen from various points of view which when viewed as an activity, political participation can be divided into two, namely passive participation and active participation. Where active participation includes citizens' activities to propose public policies, propose alternative policies that are different from government policies, submit suggestions and criticisms in the process of selecting government leaders. While passive participation is an attitude of obeying government regulations, accepting and carrying out every government decision for granted. RESEARCH METHODS The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative method . Qualitative descriptive is a research method that utilizes qualitative data and is described descriptively. This type of qualitative descriptive research is often used to analyze social events, phenomena or circumstances. Qualitative method is a term related to a series of methods or techniques that involve observation, participation, interviews with individuals or groups (Moleong, 1992: . Qualitative is a research procedure that produces descriptive data in the form of written or spoken words from people and observable behavior. With this qualitative method, researchers conduct research in a scientific setting, which means that researchers are the realities in the field. Descriptive data are generally carried out with the aim of systematically describing the facts and characteristics of the object or subject that are examined accurately. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Biouti Village is one of the villages in Idanogawo sub-district. Nias Regency. To get to Biouti Village from Nias Regency whose capital is Gido, you have to take public transportation such as motorbikes and also cars from Gido with a distance of 21. 8 KM and with a travel time of A 44 minutes. The journey that is passed starts from Hili Sebua. Sogae'adu. La'uri. Saewa Hili and Tetehosi which is a village and also a town in Idanogawo sub-district. Nias Regency. After arriving at Tetehosi Village, then continue the journey to Biouti Village by passing intersection 4 which is located close to the Tetehosi BNKP Church with the road conditions starting to deteriorate. After from Tetehosi, then pass Bobozi'oli Village. Maliwa'a. Balozoroso. Hilimbowo and then arrive at Biouti Village. In Biouti Village there are 721 people. The people of Biouti village have income to meet their daily needs from gardening income and a small number of traders and civil servants. The results from the gardens they get are sometimes not enough for their daily needs because the price of the plantation products has decreased so that many people in Biouti village experience an unstable economy. For the highest education in the village of Biouti already exists and has only been built at the junior high level. For further education, such as SMA or SMK equivalent, the children in Biouti village continue their education in Maliwa'a village and also in Tetehosi village with a distance of 5-11 KM from Biouti village. As for higher education . , the children in Biouti village continue their education in Gunungsitoli City which is the Municipality of the Nias Islands and also other cities in Indonesia. That's a glimpse of the village Biouti that the author describes. 97 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 Discussion What is the Level of Community Participation in Selecting Nias Regent Candidates in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency In the election of the Nias regent candidate in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency, the community did not seem too enthusiastic in participating in all activities or actions carried out by the Biouti community. From before carrying out the Pilkada, the Biouti community was directed from various parties how to increase their participation in participating in the success of the election. Starting from the KPUD or the District Election Committee (PPK) so that the community could use their voting rights in voting. Based on the results of the author's interview with Mr. Firman Mendrofa, he said that comunity participation in Biouti Village was not optimal, which means that many Biouti Village people did not participate in this election, because many Biouti people did not know and did not know each candidate's background. This requires an understanding and explanation of the meaning and purpose of the election being held so that good communication is needed between the community and the election committee to improve human resources better. The low level of community participation is actually inseparable from the candidate program that cannot convince the public with the programs they convey in the community, which means that the community does not really believe in the vision and mission of the candidates because they are still traumatized by the election of the Nias regent candidate which Previously, the candidate for regent who was elected by the people of Biouti Village hoped to have a good impact on Biouti Village, but when he was elected as Regent of Nias, this candidate seemed to have forgotten his promise that he had made during the campaign. One of the programs that he promised during the campaign and written in his vision and mission is to increase the economy from the income of the people in Biouti Village, where the largest source of income is as farmers from rubber products. The candidate promised to build a rubber factory to be built in Tetehosi Village as a sub-district city of Idanogawo with the aim that this rubber price could be maximized and could be managed independently, but in the end, all of that was not achieved and the program he promised was not implemented at all. Until now, and even now, the price of rubber in Nias Regency is decreasing, it can even reach the price of 4,000/KG. Many people complain about lack of income to meet their daily needs. From the results of the author's interview with Mr. Edison Gea said that the level of public awareness was not very enthusiastic in participating but there were also a large proportion of those who participated in voting and a small number chose to abstain for various reasons. In this case we can conclude that the community is not too enthusiastic and not ready to take part in the election activities in Biouti Village and the community prefers to carry out other activities in seeking their needs by continuing their work as farmers in order to earn for their daily needs because they think that the election did not have a good impact on them and was just a waste of time. From the author's interview with one of the residents who did not exercise their voting rights by voting for golput, he said that this regional head election did not have the best effect on the community because after the candidate was elected as regent of Nias, they usually only cared about people who have power in an agency and the community. small children experience poverty and they don't care about it. And even when there is a village event at once if the Nias regent is invited, they don't come and usually they only bring their staff to attend. In fact, what the community needs is the arrival of the regional head because the community wants to see the candidate after sitting as Regent of Nias and also asks about the promises he made during the campaign. Therefore, 98 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 the residents of the Biouti village did not participate in the 2020 elections and chose to abstain because they were already traumatized by the previous incident. As the interview conducted by researchers with the Success Team 01 in Biouti Village said that in the elections held in the 2020 Pilkada, each successful team defended their candidates in various ways to attract the attention of the public. What are the Obstacles that Voters Face in Choosing a Candidate for Nias Regent in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency Human Resources The General Election is a democratic party for every Indonesian people to determine the leaders and representatives they deem worthy. expect to take part in taking part in making their choices freely. However, based on the results of the author's interview with Mr. Sehati Gea as the District Election Committee (PPK) said that for public participation in the general election for regional heads, good and reliable human resources are needed in communicating with the community. Candidate Background In making choices in elections, most people do not know the background of the candidates who were introduced to them by the committee directly and or through the description of informants from the surrounding community, this was conveyed by Mr. Sozanolo Telaumbanua as the Biouti Village Success Team. From the interview above, the researcher concludes that there are still many people in Biouti Village who do not know the background of the candidate, where this is not conveyed well to the community so that the community can only follow what has been conveyed by each success team, and the community in the village Biouti does not know what their goals are in choosing these candidates. So, some of the people in Biouti Village chose not to use their voting rights to vote for them and chose to abstain or not come to the polling station at all because they considered this as a candidate's advantage when they later won and had a position. As the people of Biouti village know, there are several candidates for Regent of Nias whose background is not very clear, he is actually a native of the Nias Region, but from the beginning until before running as a candidate for Regent of Nias, these candidates do not live in Nias and domiciled outside Nias and the candidate even returned to Nias after approaching the campaign period in Nias Regency. So some of the people do not believe in the programs offered and do not really know the background of the candidate. Past Trauma Trauma is a person's emotional experience marked by the inability to escape from the memory of bad events in the past which were caused by something bad that someone Apart from the reasons for the obstacles to community participation above, past trauma is also one of the factors and obstacles why the community does not participate in making choices in the general election because some people think that the candidate they choose will not necessarily act according to the wishes of the community according to the researcher's interview with the researcher. Rhini Gori. So in my opinion, as has happened before, several candidates promised to prioritize the needs of the community according to their work program, but after being elected, they forgot all about it and felt that they were the most powerful and arrogant people in Nias Regency. So that it makes some people in Biouti Village less participate and vote or 99 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 provide support to existing candidates. For this reason, in the selection of the Nias Regent candidate, it is hoped that the cooperation between the candidate and each success team will get closer to the community in order to convince the community with the programs they offer. And also not only to offer programs, but real evidence is needed to the community, such as conducting socialization before approaching election day to the community so that people also believe in the candidate and it is not easy to change their minds to other candidates, because what people need is not only promises. in the candidate program but concrete evidence of the work of the candidates before being elected as Regent of Nias. Community Awareness Level The level of public awareness is also needed in participating, especially participation in the election of the Nias Regent candidate in Biouti Village to increase community According to Tano Gea, the level of public awareness of the importance of elections and support for voting is still very low. From the problems above, the researcher concludes that some people don't really care and don't care about the selection of people who will become their leaders/representatives in the future. This is not far from the foregoing reasons, such as not knowing the candidate's background, past trauma, and human resources. Intimidation Intimidation during the campaign period is prohibited because it is very contrary to human rights. This violation is usually in the form of threats, acts of violence from one of the candidate pairs. In addition, this violation can also damage/eliminate the props of other Intimidation can be done directly through face-to-face and indirectly by using technology to spread unfavorable issues to other candidates and sometimes through the people closest to us such as friends and family. Fortu Gea said that this intimidation happened a lot among the people, caused by the support team of the candidate pairs who brought down other candidates by influencing the surrounding community about the candidate's work program they offered. From the interview above, we can see that this intimidation is also a problem that often occurs in the community, which cannot be separated from the support teams of each candidate who knock each other down which can influence the community to choose the The success team should be mature in winning the hearts of the people to get votes by getting closer to the community so that people believe in the candidates and also use their voting rights in voting. So it can be concluded that one of the intimidations is by bringing down each other's members which is carried out by certain parties by saying that the vision and mission of the other candidate pairs are not correct and always fluctuate before the D day of the regional head election is carried out. So, this raises concerns and injustice and can affect voter choices on the H day. Determination of the Permanent Voter List This problem usually occurs in novice voters who do not have an ID card or voters who have just moved from one area to another so that they are not listed in the DPT. This issue must be resolved quickly by the local government because this can hinder a person's right to be able to participate in elections. One of the breakthroughs to overcome this problem is to create a National E-KTP that can be used in every region. 100 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 According to Sehati Gea, the people of Biouti Village, there are still many whose names are not registered on the permanent voter list because they do not have ID cards so they cannot use their voting rights in voting. This is because the community has left the Biouti Village residents since wandering and now they are returning to their hometowns but with the status of residents outside the Biouti Village. The community should have to take care of the resident's transfer letter so as not to be hampered in exercising their voting Thus a person's right to participate in a democratic party will no longer be hampered, and also the local government must more firmly monitor the people who are registered in the voters to exercise their voting rights and not to vote for abstentions. If there are people who are caught not using their voting rights in voting, they will be subject to sanctions or ordered to vote so that no public vote is wasted in the election of the Nias Regent Money Politics (Money Politic. The problem of election violations on this one has become a culture because too many candidates have done this. Money politics is also an unfair act because it only benefits candidates who have a lot of wealth. In addition, this does not provide a good education to the community and tends to fool the public. The public must be wiser in responding to this because the policy for one period is not paid off with the "Dawn Attack" which only contains 50,000-100,000. Of course this is not good for voters to determine their choice and participate and will not increase public confidence in the next candidate in the next general election. Juni Gea said that in this year's Pilkada, there are still many certain parties giving a dawn attack to the people of Biouti Village to participate in choosing the candidates they offer and also some people of Biouti Village like it because they think that money politics is only received once in a year. period and it is also their sweat money to participate without them thinking about government policies for the next period. Although the influence of money politics is very strong to make people come to polling stations to participate in voting, in reality the participation of the people of Biouti Village still tends to be low. This is due to the fact that the candidates and the candidate support team do not just give money to all the voters due to suppress spending and only have a few targets in a village, so that it can cause envy towards other people who do not get the money. As the researcher interviewed with Yasili Gea said that before exercising my voting rights on December 9, 2020. I was given money by the success team 01 to vote, but on the other hand, the success team 04 also gave me money on the condition that I had to choose candidate candidate 04. So my family and I divided the votes, half for candidate 01 and the other half for candidate 04 with the aim that all those who gave us money could get votes as our agreement at the beginning. Giving money and goods in Biouti Village is something that can make the people of Biouti Village participate in the election of the Nias Regent candidate in 2020. Giving is something that can be felt directly and clearly by voters so that they are willing to participate in choosing candidates even though the meaning of democracy becomes false as a result of the actions of the participating community because it is driven by gifts from candidates and no longer the selection of candidates based on their conscience and ability in advancing the nation and region, especially in Biouti Village. From the problems above, the researcher concludes that the problem of money politics is not very good to be developed in the midst of society, because it only has a bad effect in the future and also makes people accustomed to money politics so that people are 101 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 encouraged to vote because of money politics . and not from the conscience of the So, the existence of money politics in the midst of society will reduce the genuine participation of the people in voting. What Efforts Are Given To Overcome The Problem Of Lack Of Community Participation In The Election Of Candidates For Regent Of Nias In Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency Improving human resources As Researcher interview to Firman Mendrofra said in launch participation people in the village Biouti , source power man must more improved agara Public can utilise opportunity in choose on implementation party democracy to be implemented for choose para candidate for advancement Nias especially in the district Nias. So with the interview above, we can conclude that by increasing source power man then you can Becomes wrong one method for successing election for could boost participation Public lack of human resources which will affect community participation in the election of Regional Head Candidates, especially in Biouti Village. Idanogawo District. Nias Regency. In a discussion with several youths who have voting rights in Nias Regency, especially in Biouti Village, the author concludes that the majority of the easy people still interpret the election as merely a ritual to change the Regent which does not escape money . oney politic. There is no need to have political affiliation and party identification, as votes can be bought with money and other benefits. Therefore, various parties such as the media, political parties, election management institutions, and institutions have roles and responsibilities in providing education and political guidance to the public. Know Background behind Candidate According to the Word of Menndrofa, the background candidate this very it is important that Public can know candidate and can evaluate para candidate the is can Becomes role model for progress area or no. So researcher can conclude that in in election , background behind candidate also very important to be seen / rated by society . However on generally Public no same very know background behind candidate so that Public not enough believe with candidate that. Sozanolo Telaumbanua, wrong one method Public can know background behind candidate that is with the media . With the media, the public can get to know the candidates more quickly and also get to know the background of the candidates by using media that are already quite developed in the midst of today's society. The media should be able to give advice to the people about why they should participate in elections and cast their votes during elections. The role of the media must encourage participation. The media revolution that has developed in society has given rise to a radical shift in elections. Television is able to sneak into the family domestic space and chain impersonal relationships. In contrast to conventional political meetings which require the presence of a person. Interaction through the media is on-way traffic communication, faster, more practical and less troublesome for voters. Relieving Trauma in line big , trauma is incident that doesn't pleasant or experience for refers to on something incident so that somebody experience not comfort. In 10 years final this Public village biouti of course still not yet can get rid of the trauma with head area before, which one Public feel very utilized by candidate with apply promises that do n't have been 102 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 According to Fiman, harefa said that there must be a sense of trauma, but we have been To do coordination to Public so that truly choose para candidate leader you can count on for progress area our Nias this. If the trauma is still attached on self Public so progress area also will hampered because Public no truly see candidate to be selected is can be relied on or no because lack of participation society. The level of community participation in elections can be seen from the community's self-identification. If only a few identify themselves, the wave of non-voters and voters will increase. According to Biorcio and Mannheimer, the relationship between voters and parties has two dimensions, namely, self-identification with the party . ffect dimensio. and mass evaluation of the party's intermediation function . ational dimensio. Voters' disengagement with the party and the blurred expectations of voters in the party will have an impact on abstentions and political apathy. So the writer concludes that by eliminating trauma, community participation will also increase. So that with this, the community can have a sense of care about the activities being carried out, especially in the democratic party for the election of the Nias Regent candidate in 2020. Increase Sense of Concern According to Tano Gea , in particular participating in community participation in selecting the Nias Regent candidate in 2020, it is hoped that there will be a sense of concern between the community and the candidates as well as the regional government to be able to support each other for every democratic activity that is being carried out, especially the Pilkada of Nias Regency so that it can create a sense of community awareness, especially in the village Biouti . So researcher conclude that with a sense of concern in the midst of the community in the implementation of the election, the level of community participation, especially in Biouti Village, will be better, both in the organizers/implementers, the government, political parties participating in the election, supervisors, election observers, and voters supporting each other to improve the participation of the community in selecting the candidate who becomes the leader/deputy head of the front . Fair According to Fortu Gea, in holding elections, every voter and political party participating in the election must receive the same treatment and be free from fraud by any party so that it does not affect the decline in public participation in selecting the Nias Regent candidate, especially in Biouti Village so that it can run smoothly . success as well as fair. With there is a sense of fairness from various parties, so that community participation does not trigger fraud that can hinder the activities being carried out, especially in the election of the Nias Regent candidate in 2020. Voter List Like Interview researcher to Sehati Gea said that in carrying out the election for the Nias Regent candidate, the main step should be to carry out and check voter list data collection so that the public is registered in the determination of the voter list. With the voter list data collection, there are no people who abstain or do not use their voting rights because their names have been registered and that can increase community participation, especially in Biout Village. Idanogawo sub-district. All citizens who meet the minimum age requirements, namely 17 years of age, have the right to vote in the elections that are being held. So, every community must be able to meet the conditions that have been determined and must carry out strict data collection and monitor 103 | P a g e https://dinastires. org/JLPH Vol. No. February 2022 who is appropriate and appropriate in using their voting rights in voting, especially in the Nias Regent election in Biouti Village so that there is no cheating, which means not allowing age under 17 years in follow as well as choose. Choosing From Conscience June Gea said . In every election that is carried out, it must increase honesty by choosing from conscience to avoid unwanted fraud such as the existence of Political Money (Politics mone. Fraud that often occurs in the midst of society will have a bad effect on society in the future and also only tends to fool the community. For this reason, by choosing from conscience, there is no cheating in the community and has a positive impact on people's participation in increasing their participation in voting by not hoping for money politics and using their votes and there is no misunderstanding between the community and the support team. So by choosing from their conscience, the voting community is sure of their choice without taking sides with each other or having to rely on others. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusion One of the implementations of democratic values is the participation of the public in voter politics. Budiarjo said that political participation is the activity of a person or group of people to actively participate in political life, among others by choosing state leaders and directly or indirectly influencing government policies. In addition, other forms of public participation in political life include participation in general elections both at the national and regional levels. However, from time to time until the 2020 regional head election, community participation in the 2020 Nias Regent election tends to decrease, this is caused by various things, one of which is public distrust of the elected regional head candidate (Bupat. prioritize their own interests and do not listen to the aspirations of the community and do not prioritize the community and also several other factors that still often occur in the community that make the people of Biouti Village not participate in voting such as human resources, candidate background, past trauma, level of public awareness, intimidation and money Therefore, it is hoped that the community will pay more attention to the problems that often occur in the midst of the community, especially in participation in selecting the Nias Regent candidate in 2020. Suggestion So that the level of community participation does not decrease, it is necessary to take action from the government that can increase community participation again. In addition to the government's efforts, the community must also participate in increasing public participation in elections. So, in order for community participation to increase, it is necessary to have cooperation between local governments and the community. REFERENCES