Three of them have had to close their food stalls. One man whose occupation is doing casual odd jobs has also had to forego the chance of earning a small precious daily income. Another man has to delegate his small printing shop to a member of the family. A woman has asked her husband to come home from work early to look after their three young children.

These are the six volunteers I am working with on a committee that will administer TPS30, the polling station in Kebayoran Lama Utara subdistrict, South Jakarta, during the Feb. 15 Jakarta gubernatorial election.

We are not the only ones making some personal sacrifices in the name of democracy.

The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) has recruited nearly 120,000 volunteers to run 13,023 polling stations across the city, where 7.1 million people are registered to vote.

With 100 other local elections on Wednesday, the number of election volunteers is multiplied by at least 100.

They are ordinary people, with jobs (or not) and families, who are taking time off to help make the elections successful.

To them, success is not measured by who wins the elections but more by the orderly and peaceful electoral process. The limited number of controversies and protests would give them the satisfaction that they have done a good job. A high turnout at their polling stations would be a bonus.

Little has been written about them, yet, their contribution is massive though perhaps little appreciated. Most people see the volunteers as part and parcel of the electoral commission, which is in charge of organizing the elections. Not quite. Those serving on the electoral commission are professionals who are paid to do their job. The commission in turn relies on the work of tens of thousands of volunteers who are dedicating their time, energy and mind, to make sure that the polls run smoothly. They are formed into small committees of seven people and two security men, to run a polling station.

Prior to taking the job, they take the oath of integrity. Everyone has his or her favorite candidate but they have to be careful to not let this be known publicly lest they undermine their own credibility.

They are recruited from the neighborhood where the polling station is set up, so they are familiar with the voters, and most voters are also likely to know them.

The work involved is not just on D -Day. On our committee, we have had four meetings prior to voting day — all held late at night after everyone returned home from work. Some of us have attended the technical meetings at the subdistrict office to make sure we understand what is expected of us, and also to get briefings about what to expect, including how to handle potential problems.