Overwork during Indonesia’s elections takes lives of more than 270 officials

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

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.



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.