Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Indonesian election was one of the world's biggest one-day ballots

More than 270 election workers in Indonesia have died, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official says.

Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesman of the General Elections Commission (KPU), said 1,878 other staff had fallen ill.

Some seven million people were helping count and monitor the 17 April vote.

Staff were expected to work through the night in sweltering conditions, which took a hefty physical toll on many.

The elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ballots, in order to save money.

Around 80% of the 193 million eligible voters cast their votes in more than 800,000 polling stations.

But the huge numbers have apparently taken their toll on temporary election staff, who unlike civil servants, do not undergo a medical examination before starting work.

The KPU spokesman said 272 election workers had died from overwork-related illnesses.

Indonesia's election commission plans to compensate surviving families 36 million rupiah (£1,930; $2,500) for every deceased worker - roughly equivalent to one year's pay at minimum wage, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

Critics say the government was not prudent for combining the elections and creating unrealistic expectations of temporary staff.

Both President Joko Widodo and opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto have declared victory, though quick counts suggested Mr Widodo won the election by around 9-10 percentage points.

The KPU will finish vote counting and announce winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections on 22 May.</s>Ten days after Indonesia held the world's biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illneses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official said on Sunday. Watch this video to know more.</s>JAKARTA Ten days after Indonesia held the world's biggest single-day elections, more than 270 workers have died mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by hours counting ballot papers by hand, an official said yesterday.

Voting was estimated to have drawn 80 per cent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers. But conducting the vote has proven to be a Herculean feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Mr Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesman for the General Elections Commission.

The commission will announce winners of the elections on May 22.</s>Ten days after Indonesia held the world's biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official said on Sunday.

The April 17 elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut costs.

Voting was largely peaceful and was estimated to have drawn 80 percent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers in over 800,000 polling stations.

But conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from its western to eastern tips proven to be both a Herculean logistical feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesman of the General Elections Commission (KPU).</s>Ten days after Indonesia held the world’s biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official said on Sunday.

The April 17 elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut costs.

Voting was largely peaceful and was estimated to have drawn 80 percent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers in over 800,000 polling stations.

But conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from its western to eastern tips proven to be both a Herculean logistical feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesman of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The Health Ministry issued a circular letter on April 23 urging health facilities to give utmost care for sick election staff, while the Finance Ministry is working on compensation for families of the deceased, Susanto added.

The KPU has come under fire due to the rising death toll.

“The KPU is not prudent in managing the workload of staff,” said Ahmad Muzani, deputy chairman of the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, reported by a news website.</s>Ten days after held the world's biggest single-day Presidential elections, more than 270 election workers have lost their lives mostly due to fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, authorities said on Sunday.

On April 17, Indonesia, for the first time, combined the with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut election costs, Al Jazeera reported.

Approximately 80 per cent of the total 193 million voters cast their ballots in more than 800,000 polling stations located across the country.

On April 23, the health ministry issued a circular letter urging health facilities to offer the utmost care to sick election staff, while the sought to provide compensation to the families of the deceased, reported.

Meanwhile, reported that Opposition parties in the country have alleged that Joko Widodo's incumbent government was involved in "structured, systematic and massive" vote-rigging, was baseless.

Coordinating Political, Legal and was quoted as saying that the accusations against the government of conspiring with the General Commission (KPU) and the Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) to support a in the election had made the rounds on long before and after day.

"We call on citizens not to believe such misleading narratives and not to be incited to get involved in movements that can disrupt peace and national security," he added.

The General Commission (KPU) will conclude vote counting and announce winners of the presidential and on May 22.</s>More than 270 election workers in Indonesia have died, most of them of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours spent counting millions of ballot papers by hand, BBC reported on Sunday. Arief Priyo Susanto, the spokesperson of the General Elections Commission, or the KPU, said 1,878 employees had fallen ill.

The poll body had employed close to seven million people to count and monitor the world’s biggest single-day elections. The polls were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary elections in order to save money.

Voting was largely peaceful as 80% of the country’s 193 million voters exercised their franchise, Reuters reported. Voters in over 8,00,000 polling stations had to punch up to five ballot papers. However, an official who worked for Opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto blamed the elections commission for failing to manage the workload of its staff.

Prabowo, according to independent pollsters doing a quick count, has lost the elections to Joko Widodo. The Opposition candidate has alleged widespread cheating and his campaign has claimed some officials even punched ballots in Widodo’s favour. Indonesia’s security minister has called the allegations baseless.

The election body will conclude vote counting and announce winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 22.</s>Ten days after Indonesia held the world's biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illneses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand, an official said on Sunday.

The April 17 elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut costs.

Voting was largely peaceful and was estimated to have drawn 80 per cent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers in over 800,000 polling stations.

But conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 5,000 kilometres from its western to eastern tips proved to be both a Herculean logistical feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Arief Priyo Susanto, spokesperson of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The health ministry issued a circular letter on April 23 urging health facilities to give utmost care for sick election staff, while the finance ministry is working on compensation for families of the deceased, Susanto added.

The KPU has come under fire due to the rising death toll.

"The KPU is not prudent in managing the workload of staff," said Ahmad Muzani, deputy chairman of the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, reported by news website Kumparan.com.

Prabowo, who independent pollsters said was the loser of the 2019 polls based on quick counts, had alleged widespread cheating and his campaign claimed some officials punched ballots in favour of incumbent President Joko Widodo. Widodo's security minister said the allegations were baseless.

Both candidates have declared victory, though quick counts suggested Widodo won the election by around 9-10 percentage points.

The KPU will conclude vote counting and announce winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 22.</s>JAKARTA, Indonesia — More than 270 election staff died in the 10 days after Indonesia held the world's biggest single-day vote, an official said Sunday.

Fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand were blamed for most of the deaths.

The April 17 elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ones, with an aim to cut costs.

Voting was largely peaceful and was estimated to have drawn 80 percent of the total 193 million voters, who each had to punch up to five ballot papers in more than 800,000 polling stations.

But conducting the eight-hour vote in a country that stretches more than 3,000 miles from its western to eastern tips proven to be both a Herculean logistical feat and deadly for officials, who had to count ballot papers by hand.

As of Saturday night, 272 election officials had died, mostly from overwork-related illnesses, while 1,878 others had fallen ill, said Arief Priyo Susanto, a spokesman for the General Elections Commission.

The Health Ministry issued a circular letter on April 23 urging health facilities to give utmost care for sick election staff, while the Finance Ministry is working on compensation for families of the deceased, Susanto added.

The winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections are due to be announced on May 22.</s>JAKARTA: At least 270 election staff have died in Indonesia, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand. International media, citing officials, reported.

As per report, some seven million people were helping count and monitor the 17 April vote. They were expected to work through the night in sweltering conditions, which took a hefty physical toll on many.

The KPU spokesman was reported to have said that 272 election workers had died from overwork-related illnesses. According to spokesman of the General Elections Commission (KPU), 1,878 other staff had fallen ill.



The elections were the first time the country of 260 million people combined the presidential vote with national and regional parliamentary ballots, in order to save money. Around 80% of the 193 million eligible voters cast their votes in more than 800,000 polling stations.



But the huge numbers have apparently taken their toll on temporary election staff, who unlike civil servants, do not undergo a medical examination before starting work.



Indonesia's election commission plans to compensate surviving families 36 million rupiah (£1,930; $2,500) for every deceased worker - roughly equivalent to one year's pay at minimum wage, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.



CBoth President Joko Widodo and opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto have declared victory, though quick counts suggested Mr Widodo won the election by around 9-10 percentage points.

The KPU will finish vote counting and announce winners of the presidential and parliamentary elections on 22 May.
272 election workers in Indonesia die, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses, caused by long hours of work counting millions of ballot papers by hand. 1,878 other staff fall ill.