Why Are There Single Candidates in Regional Elections? Citizens' Perspectives

Kompas Research and Development (Litbang Kompas) conducted a survey on the phenomenon of single candidates in regional head elections (Pilkada).

The results show that 36.7% of respondents viewed the emergence of single candidates in Pilkada as a political game orchestrated by elites or a small group in power.

Furthermore, 31.3% of respondents considered it a reflection of political parties' failure in internal cadre development.

"One-third of respondents stated that the poor performance of party cadre development contributed to the presence of the 'empty box' phenomenon in Pilkada," said the Litbang Kompas team in their report on Monday, August 26, 2024.

Another 18.3% of respondents believed this phenomenon occurred due to a lack of suitable or competent candidates, while 13.7% did not know.

"The public views the presence of a single candidate, often accompanied by the 'empty box' phenomenon, as a threat to political dynamics, which should be commonplace in the democratization process," said the Litbang Kompas team.

The Litbang Kompas survey also found that a majority, or 49.9%, of respondents hoped for more than two candidate pairs per region in the 2024 Pilkada.

Then, 31.9% of respondents wanted two candidate pairs, and 15.2% preferred only one candidate pair.

This Litbang Kompas survey involved 536 respondents across 38 Indonesian provinces, selected randomly and proportionally.

Data collection was conducted from August 19-21, 2024, through telephone interviews. The survey's margin of error is approximately 4.23%, with a 95% confidence level, under conditions of simple random sampling.