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Were deaths of polling station workers really caused by elections?
While the 2019 general elections generally went smoothly, the fallout has yet to be settled nearly a month after voting day.
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Push and pull: People move boxes of ballots sent in from the districts following the recent presidential and legislative elections at the general elections commission office in Magelang, Central Java. (Antara/Anis Efizudin)
T
he 2019 general elections and their aftermath have been fraught with drama – while the world’s largest and most complex single-day elections generally went smoothly and peacefully, the fallout has yet to be settled nearly a month after voting day.
Controversy was already brewing a few hours after polls closed on election day, as presidential candidate and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto claimed victory despite credible quick counts showing that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had secured a second term.
But not long after the victory claims, the spotlight turned to the deaths of hundreds of election workers from apparent fatigue.
How many have died?
According to General Elections Commission (KPU) data as of Friday, 469 polling station committee (KPPS) members have died after the April 17 election, out of a total of more than 7 million who participated in the vote-casting and vote-counting process.
Ninety-two Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) members and 22 police officers have also been reported dead.
Is it an unusually high number?
