ABSTRACT
The Regional Head General Election is an important part of the implementation of democracy in the regions. Unfortunately, the pilkada process in post-reform Indonesia has been infiltrated by various interests and has caused problems. This stems from money politics, goods politics, and various other transactional politics. Beginner voters are the new generation of voters who have never been involved in the electoral process before. With the current ease of access, new voter groups are very vulnerable to the impact of political games in the pilkada. Character education for young voters is a panacea for protecting their thinking and behavior from pragmatic politics, and teaching them the substantive meaning of elections as a whole. This paper analyzes how character education can protect first-time voters in regional head elections.
