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Government urged to improve COVID-19 testing after regional polls
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD was quick to defend the government's insistence of hosting the regional elections during the pandemic, despite critics calling for a postponement.
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Local elderly residents participate in the simultaneous regional head elections at TPS Kalitengah Lor, Glagaharjo, Magelang, Central Java, on Dec. 9. (JP /JP / Donny Fernando )
T
he death of the South Tangerang General Elections Commission (KPU) head of COVID-19 days after the region took part in the 2020 regional elections has raised alarms over the vulnerability of polling officials and a sign of things to come.
Experts have urged the government to take post-election measures by testing election officials who met with countless people and worked around the clock in ensuring voting day went smoothly last week.
KPU South Tangerang chairman Bambang Dwitoro tested positive on Dec. 5, four days before the election took place on Wednesday, but his office held off on announcing his diagnosis to the public due to fears that it would discourage voters from turning up.
After a week of hospital treatment, he died of COVID-19 on Saturday.
Titi Anggraini from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) said officials of local KPUs and local elections supervisory agencies (Bawaslu) worked with masks on while keeping a distance and washing their hands, but their jobs made them more vulnerable to virus exposure.
“It's just that they have a more intense workload. They interacted with countless people, from voters and fellow officials in the field to candidates and their teams,” she told The Jakarta Post.
This was especially the case for KPU workers at the regency level, who were very hands-on in preparing for the elections in their respective regions, including in preparing materials, disseminating information and assisting candidates, she said.
