Indonesia takes some pride in holding the world’s largest one-day election, but the strain on overworked election workers is severe.
At least 114 poll workers have died and more than 15,000 require medical treatment since the February 14 election.
Indonesian Ministry of Health Said Most of the poll workers died from fatigue-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, respiratory disease, and heart failure. About 60% of the poll workers who collapsed were between the ages of 41 and 60.
Channel News Asia (CNA) I got it. The tragic death toll in 2024 was significantly lower than in 2019, when Indonesia held presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day for the first time. Approximately 900 election workers died during the 2019 election campaign.
General Election Management Committee implemented After the disastrous 2019 election, several reforms were introduced, including a maximum age of 55 for poll workers and mandatory medical exams. The Ministry of Health said these reforms had helped reduce deaths by 70% since 2019, but said there was clearly room for further improvement.
Poll workers in Indonesia are working agonizing hours, reporting shifts of more than 26 hours. There are few breaks and often difficult weather conditions must be dealt with. For example, on February 14, election officials were seen wading through shin-deep water in a flooded area of Java.
“In my opinion, the pay was not commensurate with the amount of work,” one poll worker told CNA. He said he received compensation worth about $77 for working more than 24 consecutive hours.
The workload during the unified election is enormous. In addition to the presidency, Indonesians voted in February for more than 730 parliamentary seats contested by around 9,900 candidates. A further 250,000 candidates competed in 20,000 city and regional councils.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and the third largest democracy with over 200 million voters.Those elections tend to have very high turnout; cast Each voter has several pages of paper ballots.
Prior to 2019, presidential and parliamentary elections were held separately, but a 2013 Constitutional Court ruling has made it possible to hold presidential and parliamentary elections together, partly because it is more efficient and less prone to fraud. was required.There have been drastic changes opposed Remarks by former military leader Prabowo Subianto. He lost elections in 2014 and 2019, but went on to become president. elected president In February 2024.
Indonesia has also abolished “secret” voting since 2013, allowing voters to choose individual candidates rather than simply voting for a political party.Several politicians from the ruling PDI-P party challenged A public vote was held in court in June, but the Constitutional Court rejected their appeal.
Election observers made several proposals to streamline the vote-counting process and increase electronic support, but most said it would be too much to hold all elections at once. Some suggested splitting state and municipal elections on separate days and alternating them every two years.
Titi Angrein, an election law expert at the University of Indonesia, warned that “as long as the model of simultaneous elections continues…the fatigue of officials who are at risk of illness and death will continue.”
