JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Health Ministry has reported the deaths of 57 election officials as of yesterday, with the highest tolls in West Java with 13 officials, followed by East Java (12), Central Java (11) and Jakarta (six).
These officials held various roles, including 29 members of the Election Supervisory Committee, 10 community protection volunteers, nine witnesses, six officers, two polling station committee members, and one member of the Election Supervisory Board.
Leading causes of death, according to ministry spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi, were heart disease involving 13 cases, accident cases (eight), and acute respiratory distress syndrome and hypertension, each with five cases.
Approximately 15% of election officials are over 55 years old due to limited volunteer availability. “Some have comorbidities that are not under control,” she added, as quoted by news agency Antara.
Age distribution among the deceased officials varied, with four aged 17-20 years, seven aged 21-30 years, eight aged 31-40 years, 18 aged 41-50 years, 15 aged 51-60 years, and five aged over 60 years.
In the 2024 general election, over 800,000 polling stations were opened nationwide, with 5.74 million officials, both domestically and abroad, compared to 5.66 million in 2019.
In the presidential race held on February 14, data from the General Election Commission website, pemilu2024.kpu.go.id, at 6.30pm yesterday revealed that the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka pair leads with 57.95% of the votes.
Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD, with 24.48% and 17.57%, respectively, covering 66.61% of the progress in vote counting. – February 18, 2024