More than 270 died from overwork-related illnesses in Indonesia elections

[angelburst29]

This situation is totally - insane! I pray, none of these candidates demand a recount?

Ten days after Indonesia held the world's biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official said on Sunday.

Sunday April 28, 2019 - More than 270 died from overwork-related illnesses in Indonesia elections

FILE PHOTO - A worker arranges flower wreaths and congratulatory boards from people after this week's election outside General Election Commission (KPU) headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

The April 17 elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut costs.

Voting was largely peaceful and was estimated to have drawn 80 percent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers in over 800,000 polling stations.

But conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from its western to eastern tips proven to be both a Herculean logistical feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesman of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The Health Ministry issued a circular letter on April 23 urging health facilities to give utmost care for sick election staff, while the Finance Ministry is working on compensation for families of the deceased, Susanto added.

The KPU has come under fire due to the rising death toll. “The KPU is not prudent in managing the workload of staff,”
said Ahmad Muzani, deputy chairman of the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, reported by news website Kumparan.com.

Prabowo, who independent pollsters said was the loser of the 2019 polls based on quick counts, had alleged widespread cheating and his campaign claimed some officials punched ballots in favor of incumbent President Joko Widodo. Widodo’s security minister said the allegations were baseless.

Both candidates have declared victory, though quick counts suggested Widodo won the election by around 9-10 percentage points.

The KPU will conclude vote counting and announce winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 22.

Indonesia's chief security minister said on Wednesday accusations that the government and security forces conspired with election agencies to conduct systematic fraud during last week's polls are "baseless" and threatened national security.

April 24, 2019 - Indonesia election fraud allegations are 'baseless': security minister

FILE PHOTO: Indonesia's incumbent presidential candidate Joko Widodo gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

President Joko Widodo declared victory after unofficial results from private pollsters gave him about 55 percent of the popular vote. His challenger, former general Prabowo Subianto, has complained of widespread cheating and insists he won.

The “quick count” of vote samples by reputable pollsters has been accurate in previous elections, though the official result will not be announced until May 22.

In 2014, Prabowo had also claimed victory on election day, before contesting the results at the Constitutional Court, which confirmed Widodo’s win.

This year Prabowo’s campaign has said it found discrepancies in the voter list and alleged fraud in areas like East Java, claiming officials punched ballots in favor of Widodo.

Social media has also been awash with conspiracy theories. “The accusations are tendentious and inconsequential, as well as slanderous, incorrect and baseless. They are directed at delegitimizing the government and election organizers,” Chief Security Minister Wiranto said at a news conference.

The election commission and election supervisory agency were independent bodies with commissioners who were voted into their positions by parliament, he said.

With this explanation, I hope that the people do not believe misleading news, or moreover are provoked to carry out activities that could disrupt peace and national security,” Wiranto said.

The 2019 vote, which was the biggest single-day election in the world, had been conducted peacefully and in a transparent manner, with many parties monitoring the process including foreign observers, he said.

Wiranto paid tribute to the election officials and security personnel on duty during last Wednesday’s ballot, adding that 139 election staff had died of exhaustion while organizing the votes.

The Herculean challenge of holding simultaneous presidential and parliamentary votes this year has triggered calls for the polls to be held at different times and to use more technology.

According to the election commission’s website, Widodo on Wednesday afternoon had 55.74 percent of the vote and Prabowo 44.26 percent, based on votes tallied at 236,975 polling stations out of 813,350 across Indonesia.

Political analysts have said the size of Widodo’s lead undermined the opposition’s charge that the election was stolen, but they added that Islamist supporters of Prabowo could still hit the streets to dispute the results.

Prabowo’s campaign has said it could rely on “people power” if its complaints were not addressed. Media reports have said thousands of extra police have been deployed in the capital Jakarta to ensure security.

National Police Spokesman Dedi Prasetyo declined to comment on the size of the deployment, but said their job was “to maintain security and order at every stage of the election”.