General Elections, 14 February 2024

Floods, January–February 2024 

The Asian Monsoon that drives seasonal storms and floods across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast/East Asia brings upwards of 85 per cent of the annual rainfall in these regions (Clift et al. 2020). At the end of the dry season, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BKMG) estimated that the peak of the rainy season would occur in January and February of 2024 (ANTARA 2023) and warned of risks of landslides and flooding in these months (Reuters 2023). Severe weather in the region is becoming more common (Indra 2024). However, stronger El Niño years, or when the Pacific Ocean temperatures rise above average, tend to bring drought to Indonesia as rainfall patterns shift (AGRO 2023; Grantham Institute n.d.). The frequency and intensity of droughts in Indonesia are expected to increase together with El Niño events following warmer global temperatures. By 2030, climate change is projected to increase the number of Indonesians affected by floods annually by 400,000 (ADB 2021).  

Impact on the electoral process 

Held on 14 February 2024, Indonesia’s general elections marked the world’s largest single-day election – spanning three time zones and 17,000 islands. Voters had six hours to cast their ballots, yet many faced knee-high floodwaters (Reuters 2024). In Demak, 10 villages postponed voting due to water up to three metres high and displaced electoral personnel (Utami 2024). Other areas of north Jakarta postponed their election by four days due to flooding in a General Elections Commission (KPU) warehouse which resulted in damaged election materials (Al Hamasy 2024).  

Within the KPU’s rules on postponement, affected villages had 10 days to conduct polling. Some polling stations opened hours later while others had to move to alternative or makeshift polling sites. Some were pumped to expel excess water and/or wrapped ballot boxes in plastic for extra protection (AFP 2024).  

DKI [Special Capital Region of] Jakarta’s Disaster Management Agency mobilized over 200 personnel as rapid response teams to damaged polling stations, to assist with relocation. They provided equipment such as boats and tents, with support from the Water Resources Agency and local government, among others. The agency also coordinated with the Department of Water Resources and Department of Environmental Sanitation to ensure the functioning of drainage channels (Al Hamasy 2024).  

Voter turnout was 81.78 per cent, only slightly less than the 82 per cent turnout in 2019 (Siahaan 2024).