The Meaning of Political Messages of Regional Head Candidate (Voters’ Perceptionsin the Election of Governor and Vice Governor of Riau in 2018)

Abstract

Abstract. Direct Regional Election (Pilkada) is a process of recruitment of leaders in
the area that places the community as the subject of the assessor and the candidate of
the Regional Head (candidate) as the object that is assessed and chosen. Objects
assessed include all political activities or candidate political messages in the form of
verbal or nonverbal. The candidate's political message is conveyed during the campaign
through props prepared by the General Election Commission such as billboards
(outdoor media). In the election of the Governor and Vice Governor of Riau in 2018,
the candidate's political message on the billboards was responded by the community in
various ways as they wished. Based on this phenomenon, a study was carried out on
the 'Meaning of Political Messages ofRegional Head Candidates (Voters’ Perceptions
in the Election of Governor and Vice Governor ofRiau in 2018)'. This study aims to
explain people's perceptions about the political messages of Riau Governor and Vice
Governor, 2018. The theoretical foundation used was the perception and theory of rock
head audiences. The research approach used was qualitativethrough interviews and
documentation as a data collection tool. Research subjects were voters, while the
objects were candidates' political messages stated in billboards. The results of the study
revealed that voters’ perceptions of the political messages of candidate pair Syamsuar-
Edy Nasution contained in the Billboards had four information, namely the
characteristics/candidates' identities; political promises; inviting voters; and candidate
pair jargon. The political messages of candidate pair Lukman Edy-Hardianto contained
in the billboard had three information, namely the characteristics/identity of the
candidate; political promises; and inviting voters. The political messages of the
candidate pair Firdaus-Rusli Effendi contained in the billboard had five information,
namely the characteristics/identity of the candidate; political promises; inviting voters;
candidate pair jargon; and information on the voting schedule. Last, the political
messages of candidate pair Arsyadjuliandi Rahman-Suyatnocontained in the billboard
had three information, namely the characteristics/candidate identity; political promises;
and inviting voters.