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Indonesia Polls: Over 270 Die Of Fatigue Related Illness While Counting Millions Of Ballot Papers By Hand
The 2019 Indonesian elections were the first time when the presidential vote was alongside national and regional parliamentary ballots. (representative image) (Image via E4024 via Wikimedia Commons)
Over 270 election workers have died while counting votes in Indonesia, BBC News reports.
An official said most of them passed away due to fatigue-related illnesses caused due to long hours of work while counting millions of ballot papers by hand.
According to Arief Priyo Susanto, the spokesman for the General Elections Commission (KPU), 1,878 other staff members have also fallen ill. Around seven million people were helping count, monitor the 17 April vote and were expected to work throughout the night, which took a heavy toll on many.
The 2019 elections were the first instance of a simultaneous presidential, national and regional parliamentary voting. This step was reportedly taken to save money. About 80 per cent of the 193 million voters cast their votes in over 8,00,000 polling booths.
A vast number of people were also hired as temporary election staff. However, unlike civil servants, they do not undergo medical tests before beginning work. The election commission in the country plans to compensate the families with 36 million rupiahs for every deceased worker, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.
Various critics have said that the government was not reasonable to combine the elections and to create unrealistic expectations for the temporary staff.
The KPU would finish counting votes and announce the winners of both the presidential and parliamentary elections on 22 May.
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