News analysis

Fraud claims, deaths cloud Indonesia's mammoth elections

Nation on edge, with allegations threatening to shake confidence in democratic process

Members of the Islam Defenders Front and supporters of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto confronting a group on the back of a pick-up truck supporting the General Elections Commission - tasked with counting the ballots of the recent Indonesian
Members of the Islam Defenders Front and supporters of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto confronting a group on the back of a pick-up truck supporting the General Elections Commission - tasked with counting the ballots of the recent Indonesian elections - in Jakarta last Friday. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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The relative success of Indonesia's first simultaneous presidential and legislative elections - the world's most complicated single-day polls - has been marred by allegations of fraud by the opposition, and the deaths of hundreds of overworked election officers.

These bumps in the road for the young democracy look set to impact electoral processes going forward, with calls to tap technology and do away with such a massive round of elections growing louder in the wake of the gruelling April 17 polls.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 13, 2019, with the headline Fraud claims, deaths cloud Indonesia's mammoth elections. Subscribe