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Disasters prevent millions from casting their votes in Wednesday’s polls
Some 30 percent of 25,223 polling stations in North Sumatra failed to carry out the voting process after heavy rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides in various parts of the province.
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Determined to vote: Poll workers assist a voter at polling station (TPS) 9 in Tanjung Gusta sub-district, Medan, North Sumatra, on Wednesday. The city’s General Elections Commission (KPU) said 45 TPS have had to reschedule the voting process due to flooding. (Antara/Yudi Manar)
A string of disasters occurring nationwide recently, from hydrometeorological ones in North Sumatra to the volcanic eruption in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), have prevented millions of people from casting their votes in the country’s first-ever nationwide simultaneous regional head elections on Wednesday.
Some 30 percent of 25,223 polling stations in North Sumatra failed to carry out the voting process after heavy rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides in various parts of the province. The province’s General Elections Commission (KPU) recorded more than 10.7 million voters.
The chairman of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in North Sumatra, Aswin Diapari Lubis, acknowledged people’s “extremely low” participation in Wednesday’s polls due to the ongoing natural disasters.
In polling station (TPS) 02 Teladan Timur, Medan, for example, only 40 percent of 524 voters came to the TPS that day. “The disasters have hampered people from casting their votes, hence the lower participation,” Aswin said.
Most of the affected TPS were situated in the province’s capital city, where residences were inundated by flood waters between 30-100 centimeters deep since early Wednesday morning.
The KPU office in Binjai, North Sumatra, was also inundated, forcing election officials to relocate to the local Bawaslu's office.
Read also: Poll workers in Palangkaraya and Muara Enim die just before voting
