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Abstract

This study seeks to analyze and describe the voting behavior of female college students for a female candidate in Indonesia at Banjarmasin Mayoral Election in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, political campaigns were mainly switched to communication and information technology with a lack of mass gatherings and direct political campaigns due to Covid-19 health protocols. In a predominantly Muslim and highly patriarchal society, this is also the second time this province to have a female candidate for this position and the first time for this city. Amidst the negative stereotypes of a female candidate and the attacks from the opponents, this female candidate managed to gain second place. Disputes emerged, and the court decided to hold re-election in three sub-districts. The disputes and the campaign dynamics show how this society at large perceives a female candidate. This study elaborates on the possible affecting factors in voting behavior, i.e., religious interpretation, ethnicity, gender, the role of media, perceptions of voters related to candidate's age and programs, political party affiliation, the role of family, and peers. This research method combines quantitative and qualitative methods with the focus on the qualitative method which is based on interviews and literature analysis. This study collected the data based on online surveys and interviews of Lambung Mangkurat University students, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, where the election was held. The selection for college student respondents aims to focus on young, educated voters and control the variables of education, age, and socioeconomic factors of voters or the effects of social class, which are also often, considered affecting variables in voting behavior. Therefore the factors of education, age, and socio-economic variables are not the focus of analysis. Hence, this study may be transferable to analyze the voting behavior of young, educated, and no-income group which makes up a significant percentage of Indonesian voters.

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