KPU Tightens Health Monitoring Of KPPS Officers

KPU chairman Hasyim Asy'ari gave a statement after attending the 2023 National Consolidation Meeting in the context of 2024 Election Readiness in Jakarta, Saturday (30/12/2023). (ANTARA/Hreeloita Dharma Shanti)

The General Election Commission (KPU) has tightened the monitoring of the health conditions of prospective officers in the recruitment of the 2024 Election Vote Organizing Group (KPPS).

"So, yesterday's 2019 election was true there were around 800, in detail I forgot a bit, officers who were tired, and until someone died. We have evaluated it," said Chairman of the Indonesian KPU Hasyim Asy'ari after attending the 2023 National Consolidation Meeting in the context of 2024 Election Readiness in Jakarta as reported by ANTARA, Saturday, December 30.

Responding to the number of 2019 Election KPPS officers who were exhausted to death, Hasyim said that his party had evaluated the incident.

The KPU findings show that most KPPS officers who died in the 2019 Election were over 50 years old and had comorbidities.

Based on research by the Ministry of Health, the University of Gajah Mada (UGM) Yogyakarta, and the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), the three most comorbid diseases suffered by KPPS officers in the 2019 Election are high blood pressure, heart attacks, and diabetes.

"We have carried out an evaluation and we have used it during the regional elections during the COVID-19 pandemic," added Hasyim.

Reflecting on this experience, the KPU then tightened the selection through the requirements for the age limit for prospective 2024 Election KPPS officers, which is a maximum of 55 years and is ensured to be in good health and do not have severe comorbidities.

Hasyimmtengarkan baik pemerintah pusat maupun daerah sama-sama telah memberikan dukungan untuk memastikan para petugas KPPS tidak akan kelegalan besar selama penyelenggaraan Pemilu 2024 berlangsung.

One of them is through Presidential Instruction Number 2 of 2021 concerning Optimization of the Implementation of the Employment Social Security Program (Jamsostek).

"The instructions have been addressed to a number of ministers and all regional heads, in the form of governors, regents, mayors. So, one of the labor segments instructed by the president to get social security is the organizers of this election," said Hasyim.

In the 2019 election, the Ministry of Health recorded 895 KPPS officers who were declared dead and 5,175 other officers were sick in 28 provinces. The province with the number of KPPS officers who died at that time was mostly in West Java.

A number of factors that caused officers to experience this included a fairly heavy workload, fatigue, and having comorbidities.