Many local poll administrators (KPPS) worked through the night counting votes for the presidential and legislative elections on April 17.

Khalid Syaifullah, the chief of a KPPS in Kuranji district in Padang, West Sumatra, told The Jakarta Post that neither he nor his team had slept in the last 29 hours as they had to finish counting votes and complete an election report.

“I haven’t slept a minute since I arrived at the polling station yesterday at dusk,” Khalid said on Thursday morning. “Hopefully, we will finish the report and submit it to the district election committee by 11 a.m.,” he said.

This is not the first time Syaifullah has carried out such an important task. The 40-year-old carried out tasks for the KPPS during the New Order regime.

The general election marked the world’s biggest one-day election. More than 190 million people were eligible to vote at more than 800,000 polling stations across the country, with 5 million people manning the polling stations to count and report the election results.

At least four people reportedly died during or after performing their duties. They are Agus Susanto of Malang, East Java, Deden Damanhuri from Purwakarta, West Java, as well as two officials from different districts in Tasikmalaya, also in West Java, Supriyanto and Jeje.

According to Syaifullah, among the obstacles in counting and reporting the election results were the difficulties incurred while checking the ballots. Some voters, he said, had not punched the ballots properly so the marks were not visible, which resulted in officials having to check each ballot thoroughly to avoid mistakes.

Another obstacle was counting the legislative votes as the vote tally document consisted of 20 sheets.

Hasanah, the head of a KPPS in Ciomas district in Bogor, West Java, said in this year’s general election, vote counting took longer than in the 2014 general election because it involved more ballots. Five years ago, people went to polling stations on separate days to vote for presidential and legislative candidates.

Her group completed counting at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, 16 hours after the polling station closed, far longer than in 2014 when counting was completed before midnight on election day.

“It became more difficult to see the marks on the ballots later at night as we got sleepy. Completing the election report was also complicated,” she said, adding that her team had also worked through the night the day before in preparation for the election.

In Batam, Riau Islands, many KPPS officials had to work through the night owing to delays in ballot box and ballot deliveries at 500 polling stations in five districts.

Tiur Boru Napitupulu, a KPPS member in Bengkong district, said she had assisted at the polling station from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time, with little pay.

“We also had to face voters who complained because they did not receive their ballots and were unable to vote on time,” Tiur said.

Tiur also said she had yet to receive payment even though the election had ended. According to Tiur, the staff will receive Rp 500,000 (US$35.54) for their work. “Perhaps we will receive extra pay because we worked overtime,” Tiur said.

Hasanah said she hoped those elected were trustworthy and willing to serve the people, so that the work of millions would not be wasted.

“We don’t really need better pay or anything. It’s enough that the leaders do their job. There’s a sense of pride in seeing the election go well,” she said.

General Elections Commission (KPU) member Ilham Saputra expressed gratitude to the officials. “We will take care of the sick and the deceased. They are the heroes of democracy,” he said.

—Fadli contributed to the story from Batam

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