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A staggering figure given by the Electoral Commission in Indonesia: more than 270 election officials died after the presidential election held on April 17. It's official and it's not criminal. According to the Indonesian authorities, they died of exhaustion after urgently stripping hundreds of millions of ballots.
Climate and participation rate is the deadly cocktail. It is very hot in Indonesia, minimum 30 degrees and humidity of 80%. Counting ballots often takes place outdoors, and this year the election has fascinated the country. The Indonesians went to vote en masse for the presidential election, but also the same day, for the legislative elections, two polls at the same time.
It is too much work, and too much paper, in a very populated country: 240 million inhabitants, 800,000 polling stations. There are sometimes up to 100 candidates per constituency. Up to 600 million ballots would have been counted by hand. Some assessors worked 30 hours in a row, and that was not their job.
Not enough officials
The government did not have enough officials. He recruited local temporary workers, unemployed or retirees, who did not bear the heat, the pressure and the workload. There are nearly 300 deaths in total, 1,800 people on sick leave.
The head of the Indonesian National Assembly demands accountability to the executive and requests that Indonesia switch to electronic voting. The families of the victims will be compensated up to 2,000 euros per household.
The official results of the presidential election will be announced on May 22nd.
► Also read: Presidential elections in Indonesia: Joko Widodo given winner by polls