"Overworked to Death After One Election: 23 Indonesian Election Officials Die"

Over 200 Million Voters... Major Elections Held Simultaneously
Nearly 900 Deaths During 2019 Presidential Election

In Indonesia, where more than 200 million voters cast their ballots for the presidential, legislative, and local council elections all in one day, it has been reported that over 20 election workers have died from overwork. Indonesian election workers, who suffer hundreds of casualties every year due to the grueling preparation and vote counting processes, are known locally as having one of the most extreme jobs. In 2019, nearly 900 deaths were recorded, drawing international attention after every election.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

According to the Jakarta Post on the 19th, the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) announced that 23 election workers died from overwork and other causes around the presidential election held on the 14th, and about 2,800 were treated in hospitals. The KPU plans to provide compensation of 36 million rupiah (approximately 3.08 million KRW) to the families of the deceased election workers and 10 million rupiah for funeral expenses.

The Jakarta Post reported, "Arman Ramansia (38), an election worker at a polling station in Tasikmalaya, West Java, complained of chest pain and went home after working over 10 hours of night vote counting. He later returned to the polling station to resume counting but lost consciousness and collapsed. He was taken to a local health center but passed away."

Idham Kolik, chairman of the KPU, explained, "It is presumed that the election workers died due to accumulated fatigue from working long hours without rest before and after the voting." Indonesia has about 250 million voters who cast ballots for the presidential, legislative, and local council elections all in one day without early voting. This inevitably subjects election workers to extreme overtime.

More than 820,000 polling stations were mobilized for this election, with 5.7 million election workers deployed. The massive manpower involved in preparing polling stations, counting votes, and verifying ballots led to numerous deaths from overwork and accidents. During the 2019 election, 894 personnel including election workers and police died, and 5,175 showed symptoms of health problems.

The Indonesian government limited the age of election workers to under 55 years old and required health check certificates including blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels to reduce fatalities in this election. However, 23 deaths still occurred. The Jakarta Post warned that additional deaths may follow.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.