Kepentingan Petahana dalam Manipulasi Pilkada Labuhan Batu Selatan 2015

The ethics of election officer has been ruled by the Law. When it is violated by the election officers, then they can be punished by being terminated. However, the stringent rule cannot stop the manipulation in Labuhan Batu Selatan Local Election 2015 happened. As a result, DKPP released termination punishment to four election officers of Labuhan Batu Selatan. This article aims at answering the question: “Why did manipulation happen in Labuhan Batu Selatan Local Election 2015?” By using the qualitative method, depth interviews and document study as the method of data collection, this article explains how was the preliminary context of the election manipulation, the processes happened after that when the Election happened, and the explanation why did manipulation happen with the analysis using the theory of election manipulation. A little different with the argument that manipulation in an election generally conducted to ensure the winning of incumbent so that he can pass the minimum percentage of winning, this article argues that manipulation in Labuhan Batu Selatan Local Election 2015 was caused by the interest of winning the incumbent which is supported by the weaknesses in regulation about recruitment of local election officer.