Indonesia holds regional elections despite concerns

Indonesia pushed forward with holding previously postponed regional elections on Wednesday despite concerns about doing so amid the ongoing pandemic.

At least 105 million people were eligible to vote in elections being held to choose nine governors, 37 mayors and 224 district chiefs across 270 regions.

The polls were originally supposed to be held in September but were delayed because of the virus and the number of organisers who became ill.

The vote comes just days after Indonesia recorded its highest daily increase in new virus cases since the pandemic began — more than 8-thousand.

Masks were required for voters and poll workers.

Polling stations opened earlier than usual and each voter was given a scheduled hour during which they could vote.

LaporCOVID-19, a non-governmental community coalition collecting data on the pandemic, had called for the election to be postponed again.

The group said it tracked 76 candidates in the election who had contracted the virus and four who died.

Edy Mukri, a voter in Depok, West Java  said he wasn't worried about the pandemic and felt the polls should be held.

National COVID-19 Mitigation Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said adhering to health protocols would be key.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has reported more than 586-thousand virus cases since the pandemic began with 18-thousand deaths, the most in southeast Asia.