"Election officers are required to exert extra efforts during the election period, and this might be harmful to their health, as the risk of fatigue and burnout among them is increasing," Haryanti stated in Tanjungpinang on Thursday.
Haryanti, who earlier served as member of the Tanjungpinang General Elections Commission (KPU), highlighted the need for proper technical guidance for election officers, as they are required to perform several tasks during the election day.
"If the regulation failed to delineate the officers' responsibilities, issues may arise during the election conduct and may cause election delay or a repeat election," the observer cautioned.
Seconding Haryanti views, academic Robby Patria also expressed concern over enormous responsibilities that the election officers had to shoulder to prepare for the simultaneous elections.
"Election officers would face mounting pressure, as they must assist the candidate registration process and voter list update for the regional elections for November 2024 while overseeing the presidential-parliamentary elections in April 2024," Patria noted.
Despite increasing health risk posed to election officers, they admitted to the simultaneous elections being more feasible for the national budget and logistics, as multiple elections are compacted into one day, thereby simplifying the preparation process and the election conduct.
"The government had to only pay the election officers one time for the entire election process," Haryanti stated.
The residents and election officers are also not overwhelmed by the necessity to repeat the voter verification process if the elections are not conducted simultaneously, she remarked.
Patria also noted that the recruitment process for election officers can be performed only once, thereby proving its effectiveness.
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Translator: Nikolas Panama, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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