Overwork during Indonesia's elections takes lives of more than 270 officials - The Express Tribune

1,878 offici­als fall ill; health minist­ry urges author­ities to give utmost care to sick staff

Indonesian people show their inked fingers after casting their ballots during regional elections in Tangerang. PHOTO: AFP

The world’s biggest single-day elections were held in Indonesia last week in which 80 per cent of the total 193 million voters participated.

In order to carry out the elections in the country of 260 million people, the election staff had to work long hours which led to the death of more than 270 officials, The Guardian reported on Monday.

In order to cut costs, the presidential elections were combined with national and regional parliamentary ones and held on the same day.

By the numbers: Indonesia’s national elections

Conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 5,000km from its western to eastern tips proved deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

According to the spokesperson of the country’s election commission (KPU), as of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died while 1,878 others had fallen ill.

The health ministry urged the health facilities to give utmost care for sick election staff, while the finance ministry was working on providing compensation to families of the deceased.

The winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections will be announced on May 22.

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April 29, 2019 at 02:00PM