57 Election Officials Die, Majority from Heart Disease

According to a report from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), as of Saturday (February 17, 2024), 57 election officials for the 2024 election have died.

These officials were from the Voting Committee (KPPS), Civil Protection (Linmas), and the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).

Based on the cause of death, the majority of officials died from heart disease, namely 13 cases.

Then there were deaths due to accidents (8 cases), acute respiratory distress (5 cases), and hypertension (5 cases).

There were also officials who died from cerebrovascular disease (4 cases), multi-organ failure (2 cases), septic shock (2 cases), shortness of breath (1 case), asthma (1 case), and diabetes mellitus (1 case).

Meanwhile, the cause of death for 15 others remains unconfirmed.

The highest number of deaths was found in West Java, with 13 deaths. Then East Java with 12 deaths, and Central Java with 11 deaths.

In addition, 8,381 election officials were hospitalized after duty.

These patients were treated for various illnesses, such as esophageal and stomach diseases, hypertension, acute respiratory infections (ISPA), and inner ear diseases.

Head of the Public Communication and Service Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that approximately 15% of KPPS officials were over 55 years old due to a lack of younger people willing to serve as officials.

"Furthermore, some still have uncontrolled comorbidities," said Siti in her statement, as reported by *Katadata*, Sunday (February 19, 2024).

According to the Minister of Finance's Letter Number S-647/MK.02/2022, there will be compensation for KPPS members who die while on duty during the 2024 election.

In the letter, the compensation given to deceased KPPS officials is Rp36 million, and funeral assistance is Rp10 million.

(See also: Increased Two-Fold, This is the Wage of KPPS Officials for the 2024 Election)