Elections are a milestone in the establishment of democracy, where the people are directly involved actively in determining the direction and political policies of the state for a period of government in the future [1]. General Election Commission (PKPU) Regulation Number 8 of 2017, concerning Socialization, Voter Education, and Community Participation in the Election of Governor and Deputy Governor, Regent and Deputy Regent, and/or Mayor and Deputy Mayor, explains that the socialization of the Denpasar City KPU regional head election carried out with the objectives of: 

• disseminating information on the stages, schedule, and program of the election

• increasing public knowledge, understanding, and awareness about the rights and obligations in elections

• increase voter participation in elections. As for the material presented in the socialization of regional head elections, all activities related to the stages, programs, and schedule for the implementation of elections consist of: 

• updating of data and voter list

• candidacy in elections

• campaign in the election includes campaign provisions, campaign schedule, vision-mission and work program of candidate pairs

• campaign funds for election participants

• voting, counting and recapitulation of election vote counting results

•  determination of the elected candidate pair in the election. 

The socialization program has been implemented, but the community participation rate in Denpasar City has decreased in the 2020 regional head election. The General Election Commission (hereinafter abbreviated as KPU), Denpasar City is targeting the regional head general election participation rate in 2020, amounting to 77.5 percent [2]. However, based on quick count data from the Denpasar City KPU, the Commissioner of the Bali Provincial KPU for the Division of Socialization, Voter Education, and Community Participation, said that the percentage of people who did not participate in the Denpasar City regional head election was 46 percent [3]. This shows that only 54 percent of the 444,929 number of Permanent Voters List (hereinafter abbreviated as, DPT) submitted their voting rights. When compared with the 2015 regional head election, the community participation rate reached 56 percent [3]. There is a decrease of 2 percent from the previous period's regional head election. In fact, in the 2020 regional head election, the Denpasar City KPU has provided the opportunity for Covid-19 patients to participate in the Denpasar City regional head election. A total of 3 Covid-19 patients participated in the Denpasar City regional head election [2]. This decline in community participation rates, in theory, can occur because the candidate pairs for regional heads are unattractive, people are apathetic towards the democratic process, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation, and most importantly, caused by inadequate socialization so that people do not know about the implementation of the Election. Head of this area. Based on this phenomenon, the question in this study is how effective is the socialization carried out by the mayoral candidate pair and the success team, in the regional head election in Denpasar City in 2020?

Research Methods

This study uses a qualitative approach, with observation data collection techniques, and in-depth interviews conducted with key informants. Informants filled out a list of questions using the accidental sampling technique, then the researchers distributed the google form link to WhatsApp groups, other social media, parties encountered during the data collection process. Likewise, conducting in-depth interviews, informants were selected using a purposive sampling technique, namely the selected informants were informants who were directly involved in political communication, which was carried out by candidate pairs and the success team. The informants are candidate pairs and/or success teams, and political party figures/elite. The data collected was then analyzed, with qualitative data analysis. Researchers carry out the process of data reduction, data presentation (display), and draw conclusions, or verification.

The effectiveness of the socialization carried out by the candidate pairs and the success team in the regional elections in Denpasar City in 2020, is the process of political education, political education to the community, which is carried out by members of political parties, so that people have knowledge and awareness of their role in the regional head election, in Denpasar City 2020. This political education process is carried out by political parties by conducting political communication to the public [4]. Political communication carried out is conveying political ideas and ideas to the public [5]. Political communication contains five main elements, namely political communicators, political messages, the media used, political communication audiences, and the consequences of communication in politics [6]. In the context of regional head elections in Denpasar City, political communicators are not only members of political parties, but also pairs of candidates for mayor and deputy mayor, Denpasar City. 

In the implementation of the regional head election in Denpasar City, political parties and success teams participated in socializing the election time, election mechanism, election provisions, and of course related to the implementation of health protocols during the COVID19 pandemic era. The election date was submitted to raise awareness and remind the public about when their voting rights as citizens can be used, to participate in determining regional leaders, mayors and deputy mayors of Denpasar City. This information is also a bridge for political parties to socialize the figures of candidates for mayor and deputy mayor [7]. This was also emphasized by Gede Mahendra, one of the informants, from the Golkar Party, who stated that before introducing the candidate pairs, the Golkar party informed the electorate that the regional head election would still be held in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and political parties also conveyed everything. information about elections, including the timing of regional head elections. After the public is educated about the election of regional heads, political parties and success teams, follow up by socializing the candidate pairs. Political messages regarding candidate pairs have a major impact on the involvement of political participation [8]. 

This was confirmed and strengthened by several informants that the popularity and proximity of the candidate pair to the community affected the political participation of the community [9]. In addition, political parties and success teams also socialized the application of health protocols in the regional head elections in Denpasar City. The campaign for the implementation of health protocols, must be submitted, as an effort by the government and the community to guarantee the holding of elections safely. In addition to this appeal, the winning team and candidate pairs also emphasized to always implement health protocols in a series of activities for the Denpasar City regional head election. This shows that socialization is carried out not only through verbal communication, but also by providing concrete examples to the community. 

The communication media used by candidate pairs and political parties (plus the success team) are conventional media and digital media, as communication media, targeted segments, and precise targets [10,11]. In the conventional form, the socialization media used are limited meetings, outdoor media such as billboards, banners, print media, giving masks, distributing brochures in public places, mobilizing political party cadres [12]. Further information, disclosed by the informant, Gede Mahendra from the Golkar Party, stated that interpersonal communication was carried out by mobilizing party cadres. The party cadres hold discussion forums through social capital owned by party cadres, so as to increase public political participation. Another informant, Agus Wirajaya as a member of a political party, namely the Denpasar City PSI Party, also said that the communication media used were personal approaches, limited discussions and online discussions. These personal discussions can improve personal communication between political parties (success teams) and the community, especially community leaders so as to increase the social capital of political parties and community leaders [13]. This can encourage mass and interpersonal communication carried out by community leaders [14]. 

In addition to conventional media, political parties and candidate pairs, socialization about elections, implementation and implementation of health protocols, and other political information messages, is carried out through social media, online news portals, endorsements from celebgrams and other online media [15]. The use of social media helps political parties and candidate pairs in overcoming the limitations of conducting face-to-face or direct political communication [16]. Although communication through social media is mass communication, only people who can access it, who have digital media, and good internet literacy, can absorb political messages through social media [17]. 

Political communication and socialization carried out by political parties, especially the success team and the candidate pair have an impact on people's political participation [18]. This is reflected in the political participation of the people in Renon Village. Renon has the lowest level of political participation in Denpasar City, namely (39.38%). This is partly due to the lack of political communication and socialization carried out by the success team. Informant, G.E. Saputra, as Head of the Renon Village Community Empowerment Institute, stated that the involvement of the success team in the socialization was not very significant. Political parties only socialize through the distribution of masks and brochures at the market in Renon Village. It was further stated that the socialization media was chosen because political parties only assumed that social media was the most appropriate medium to mobilize the community to actively participate in regional head elections. The communication media chosen are communication media that meet the interests of political parties. In fact, to move the community, political messages must be able to accommodate the interests of the community so that they can change people's behavior [3,19]. 

One of the important communicants in the Denpasar City regional head election is the Political Party and the success team for the candidate pair for Mayor and Deputy Mayor, because these actors have more complete knowledge of work programs compared to other community groups. Then, party cadres can carry out further socialization up to the grass-root level. Based on observations, 45.8 percent of respondents stated that socialization by political parties was quite convincing regarding the election materials presented (467 respondents), while 17.2 percent of respondents stated that socialization by political parties was not convincing (175 respondents). Based on the results of interviews, observations and filling out questionnaires, it was found that 46.2 percent of respondents stated that the socialization by the success team for the candidate pair for Mayor and Deputy Mayor convinced the public, regarding the material presented related to the general election, 471 respondents, while 14.5 percent stated that the socialization conducted by the success team for the candidate pair for Mayor and Deputy Mayor was not convincing, as many as 148 respondents. The low level of respondents' confidence in the socialization material, which was carried out by political parties and the candidate success team, was caused by the lack of intensity or frequency of limited face-to-face meetings. This was conveyed by Luh Manik Sariniti, an informant as Secretary of the Penatih Village Head that until the end of the campaign period, neither political parties nor candidate pairs had conducted face-to-face socialization. This is due to regulations governing movement restrictions on face-to-face meetings, limited budget due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This opinion was also confirmed by the informant, Kiana (Vice Chair of the Hanura party), who stated that the significant differences that occurred from the socialization activities were the restrictions on the installation of billboards, the lack of budget due to Covid19, and the limited number of face-to-face meetings. Furthermore, conveying that in order to increase public political participation, as party cadres, it is obligatory to increase the ability to encourage and invite the public to come to the polling stations, because it is part of the rights and obligations of voters, as citizens to further strengthen the legality of election results. Elected Regional Head. This indicates that political parties have the awareness to carry out better political socialization [20].

For political communication and socialization carried out by the candidate pair and their success team, the majority of respondents and informants stated that it was effective. However, the informant also argued that the candidate pair and the success team did not do much socialization to the wider community, except through meetings during the campaign period and socialization in the constituent environment and the neighborhood where each success team lived. Of the 1020 respondents who filled out the questionnaire, as many as 872 respondents (85.5%) said that the political communication and socialization carried out by the candidate pair and the success team were very convincing. This means that political communication and socialization carried out by the candidate pair and the successful team are considered effective. 

The informants who provided information through in-depth interviews stated that the candidate pairs and the success team were said to be rare or seen as not being so intense in carrying out political communication and socialization related to the activities and stages of the regional head election in 2020, so that they are expected to be more proactive in carrying out political communication, and socialization of all stages of regional head elections. Candidate pairs parties, political parties, and success teams can conduct socialization through political education to party administrators up to the village level, party members, constituents, and constituent candidates at the village level. Seeing the phenomenon of this pragmatic society, it is recommended that communication and socialization activities carried out not only prioritize the interests of the communicant, namely the KPU, City Government, and candidate pairs, but also pay attention to economic interests and community needs. For this reason, in every communication and socialization, the communicant can provide economic compensation in the form of distribution of attractive souvenirs, door prizes, as an attraction to attend socialization activities, and of course do not violate the applicable laws and regulations, and also depends on the financial ability of the communicant [8]. This method will have an appeal while they do not lose time and sources of income for their daily activities.

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