Walk 18 hours so Indonesians can vote
Indonesians pick their president tomorrow and ballot boxes must be in place by then.
People travel on horseback along mountain paths, in helicopters and small planes to bring the boxes to 190 million voters in the world’s biggest archipelago nation.
Some 480,000 polling stations are set up for the vote across the world’s third-biggest democracy.
Local election commission chief Subhani told AFP the journey involves avoiding wild boars stampeding through the jungle, crossing streams filled with blood-sucking leeches, going to areas with no phone signals.
“It’s better to walk non-stop for 18 hours than to sleep overnight,” he said.
When ballot boxes arrive late
District election official Juli Suryo said: “It’s too dangerous for cars and motorcycles as a wrong move could mean falling to one’s death."
Thick fog in the mountains or heavy rain can hamper delivery of ballot boxes by air. If it's raining, ballot boxes have to be wrapped in plastic sheets and wax paper to protect them.
Problems that cropped up in the country’s two direct presidential elections and four legislative polls include ballot boxes arriving late due to bad weather, insufficient voting slips and ballot papers being sent to the wrong districts.
Sources: AFP
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