Political Dynamics in Pematang Siantar and Humbang Humbang: A Candidate Couple Against The Empty Box

The implementation of the 2020 Simultaneous Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) was held with many polemics. In addition to being an election that takes place in the midst of a pandemic, the 2020 Pilkada also marks a series of regional elections with the number of candidate pairs vs. most empty boxes. This research is how people respond to choices with schemes like this. Using behavioral analysis, this research seeks to capture political dynamics based on facts collected in the field. The research area is in the Humbang Hasundutan and Pematang Siantar areas. The regional election in advance was taken because it represents two different political dynamics: While the political situation in Pematang Siantar is more passive, Humbang Hasundutan's political situation is pro-active and dynamic. It is precisely in these two conditions that this research was carried out. The findings of this study show that even though both are in the situation of choosing the empty box or candidate pairs, the dynamics of the community that take place have significant differences.