THE ROLE OF BAWASLU IN ELECTION WITH SINGLE CANDIDATE: CASE STUDY OF GRESIK 2024 REGIONAL ELECTION

Election Monitoring and Challenges to Democracy

Abstract

Abstract: This study aims to analyze in depth the role of the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in maintaining the integrity and quality of electoral democracy in the implementation of the Regional Head Election (Pilkada) with a single candidate, with the focus of the study on the 2024 Gresik Regency Pilkada. In this election, there was only one pair of candidates who were officially determined and had to compete with an empty box, which is a symbol of the people's choice for dissatisfaction with the minimum political alternatives available. This phenomenon poses serious challenges to the principles of representation, participation, and legitimacy of election results. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach with information collection techniques through documentation, field observations, and semi-structured interviews with Bawaslu members and other stakeholders. The results of the study show that Bawaslu Gresik carries out its supervisory function actively and preventively by strengthening voter education, campaign monitoring, monitoring ASN neutrality, and controlling logistics distribution. Although the single candidate pair won the contest, the significant acquisition of empty box votes (around 40%) indicates public criticism of the political process which is considered elitist. This study concludes that supervision by Bawaslu remains crucial in maintaining election integrity, even in situations without balanced competition, and ensures the strengthening of regulations and the role of community participatory supervision.