A string of disasters occurring nationwide recently, from hydrometeorological ones in North Sumatra to the volcanic eruption in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), have prevented millions of people from casting their votes in the country’s first-ever nationwide simultaneous regional head elections on Wednesday.

Some 30 percent of 25,223 polling stations in North Sumatra failed to carry out the voting process after heavy rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides in various parts of the province. The province’s General Elections Commission (KPU) recorded more than 10.7 million voters.

The chairman of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in North Sumatra, Aswin Diapari Lubis, acknowledged people’s “extremely low” participation in Wednesday’s polls due to the ongoing natural disasters.

In polling station (TPS) 02 Teladan Timur, Medan, for example, only 40 percent of 524 voters came to the TPS that day. “The disasters have hampered people from casting their votes, hence the lower participation,” Aswin said.

Most of the affected TPS were situated in the province’s capital city, where residences were inundated by flood waters between 30-100 centimeters deep since early Wednesday morning.

The KPU office in Binjai, North Sumatra, was also inundated, forcing election officials to relocate to the local Bawaslu’s office.

Many poll workers and voters in Medan failed to show up at polling stations as they tried to save their belongings from the flood or evacuate to safer places.

Moreover, Raja Hasibuan, head of a polling station in Lingkungan 1, Medan, said that poll workers were unable to carry out the voting process because they did not receive ballot papers and other logistics for the election.

“The ballot papers and other voting equipment were stored in the village head office, which was inundated by floodwater. Our polling station is also surrounded by thigh-deep water,” he said.

Head of sub-district Polling Committee (PPS) in Tanjung Gusta, Medan, said that election organizers struggled to deliver ballot papers and other equipment to polling stations because the flooding had made many roads inaccessible in the city.

Coordinating Politics and Security Minister Budi Gunawan said that voting would be rescheduled in areas unable to carry out the process on Wednesday.

“The voting in some affected areas will be rescheduled due to the escalating natural disasters, be it volcanic eruptions, landslides or flooding,” Budi said in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Aswin from the North Sumatra chapter of Bawaslu said they were coordinating with the KPU to determine the new schedule.

Election continues

Meanwhile, several other regions across the country insisted on carrying out the voting process for the regional head elections despite being affected by natural disasters.

Election officials in Pekalongan, Central Java, created a makeshift stage in a polling station in Pasirkratonkramat sub-district so that voters could cast their ballots amid 30 cm flood waters that inundated the area.

The sub-district has been flooded since Saturday after a dam in the Bremi River broke, causing floods to hit hundreds of homes in the region.

The KPU in Pekalongan was forced to relocate two polling stations to another location due to the inundation.

Despite the less than ideal situation, residents were seen walking through floodwaters to visit polling stations and cast their ballots for the Pekalongan mayoral candidates and the Central Java gubernatorial candidates.

In Rantau Gedang village and Teluk village, Aceh Singkil regency, Aceh, poll workers continued to carry out the regional elections as normal despite widespread flooding that has inundated the two villages since Sunday.

Acting Aceh Singkil regent, Azmi, said that he had to relocate two out of three polling stations in the two villages to safer locations.

“We have asked the Aceh Singkil Disaster Mitigation Agency [BPBD] to provide speed boats to pick up voters who were struggling to reach the polling stations,” Azmi said as reported by TribunNews.

On voting day, dozens of villagers were seen walking through 50 cm floodwaters or using boats in order to cast their ballots.

Hundreds of evacuees affected by the eruption of Mount Lewotobi in NTT earlier this month also participated in the regional elections, though some 600 of them failed to do so because of access limitations, Kompas.id reported.

The Wednesday polls are the largest-ever simultaneous regional elections held in the country’s history, with 37 provinces and more than 500 regencies and cities electing their leaders on that day.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had previously predicted that several areas in the country would experience extreme weather events, with some leading to disasters such as flooding and landslides, until February 2025 when the peak of the rainy season ends.

At least 20 people have been killed in weekend flooding and landslides in North Sumatra, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported, as rescue workers continued their search for survivors.

-In Association with ANN