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Voting in disaster-stricken regions begins following delay
General Elections Commission (KPU) offices in some regions began balloting over the weekend in several polling stations after floods forced them to postpone the Nov. 27 regional head elections.
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A local poll administrator (KPPS) serves a voter on Nov. 27, 2024, at a flooded polling station, during the 2024 regional election in Medan, North Sumatra. (Antara/Yudi Manar)
General Elections Commission (KPU) offices in some regions began balloting over the weekend in several polling stations after floods forced them to postpone the Nov. 27 regional head elections.
In Medan, North Sumatra’s provincial capital, voters registered in 54 polling stations went to the polls on Sunday to vote for a new mayor and governor because their stations were flooded on last week's voting day.
Seven other polling stations in the city also resumed balloting on Sunday for the remaining voters who had yet to cast their ballots last week, when floodwater forced the stations to shut down.
“A total of 31,000 people voted in 61 polling stations in Medan on Sunday," KPU Medan office head Mutia Atiqah told The Jakarta Post, adding that the balloting ran smoothly despite a heavy downpour battering the areas.
Forty-nine other polling stations in Deli Serdang, Binjai, Asahan and Nias regencies also pushed back Wednesday’s voting to Sunday because of flooding. In total, 110 out of 25,223 polling stations in North Sumatra had to reschedule balloting.
Prevailing laws give election organizers 10 days from voting day, or until Dec. 7, to hold supplementary voting in case of emergencies.
But Raja Ahab Damanik, an official at the KPU North Sumatra office, said the agency preferred to organize balloting as early as Sunday to give more time for election workers at the district level to finish tabulating votes by Dec. 3 to keep up with the tiered tabulation process timeline.
