Local Executive Elections, 27 November 2024

Floods, November 2024 

North Indonesia saw flash flooding and landslides in November 2024, during nationwide local elections. The disasters were consequences of three days’ heavy rainfall across four districts in northern Sumatra (CBS 2024). The floods and landslides caused at least 16 deaths on Sumatra Island. At least 10 houses were washed away by the flash floods and around 150 were damaged. Multiple houses in the Harag Julu village were hit by a landslide, which caused four deaths and at least three people to be injured. Another landslide in the Karo district caused six deaths and nine injuries (Aljazeera 2024). On 23 November, a dam in the Bremi River broke, causing floods throughout Pekalongan in Central Java. In total, at least 31 deaths were reported by 30 November (Jakarta Post 2024; ToI 2024). 

Impact on the electoral process 

Indonesia held nationwide local executive elections on 27 November 2024, the largest-ever simultaneous regional elections with 37 provinces and more than 500 regencies and cities involved (Jakarta Post 2024). 

Some 30 percent of 25,223 polling stations in North Sumatra failed to carry out the voting process due to floods and landslides. Most of the affected polling stations were in Medan, capital of the province. Here, there was standing water to a depth of 30–100 cm (Jakarta Post2024). This impeded both poll workers and voters in the city. Traveling to or attending polling stations gave way to citizens being forced to evacuate or save their belongings as first priority. Flooded roads meant ballot papers and other electoral material did not reach some polling stations. Materials were also flooded while stored at village headquarters (Jakarta Post2024). 

Accordingly, Polling was postponed for 61 polling stations in Medan and a total of 110 across North Sumatra until 1 December, presenting a delay of 3 days (Gunawan and Suhenda 2024). 

In the Pasirkratonkramat sub-district, Central Java, a temporary stage in a polling station was created by election officials to ensure voting despite 30 cm of floodwater covering the area. In Pekalongan, two polling stations were relocated, and in the villages of Rantau Gedang and Teluk, Aceh Singkil regency, polling took place as usual despite the floods as two out of three polling stations were relocated to safer locations (Jakarta Post 2024). 

Jakarta’s Regional Disaster Management Agency prepared for the floods by mapping out the areas which were prone to flooding and relocating polling stations in those areas. The police and Public Order Agency also collaborated to ensure an undisrupted election in Jakarta (Faiz Zaki 2024). 

Voter turnout was around 70 per cent (Yunanto 2024; Indra and Gunawan 2024; ANTARA 2024). This is a decrease compared to the 2020 local elections which had a turnout averaging 76 per cent (Nugroho et al. 2021).  

Voter turnout in North Sumatra was lower still at around 40 per cent, presenting a decrease from the 2018 regional elections that saw a 63 per cent turnout (Jakarta Post 2024; Gunawan and Suhenda 2024). In Jakarta, 56 per cent of voters attended the polls, a decrease compared to the last local elections in 2017, when turnout was 75.7 per cent in the first round and 77 per cent in the second (Loasana 2024; KPU 2017a; KPU 2017b).