Polls Close, Counting Begins As Millions Cast Ballots To Elect New Indonesian Leaders

ISTANBUL, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Feb, 2024) A six-hour-long voting process has concluded in Indonesia where millions of people on Wednesday cast their ballots in the country’s presidential, national and provincial elections.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0000GMT) amid heavy rain in the capital Jakarta and other parts of the country and closed at 1 p.m. (0600GMT).

Counting has begun at many places.

However, heavy rains and flooding forced the election authority to delay polls in Demak regency, Central Java, Jakarta Post news website reported. Some polling stations were damaged due to gusty winds and downpours.

The official results will be announced in the next 35 days while early trends of Wednesday's poll are expected to flow by late Wednesday (local time).

Voter turnout was yet to be released.

More than 204 million people were eligible to vote to choose the country’s next president, vice president and lawmakers for the parliament as well as members of provincial legislative bodies.

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan are the three frontrunners to succeed President Joko Widodo, popularly known as “Jokowi.”

“This is a celebration of democracy,” Jokowi told reporters before casting his vote along with first lady Iriana Widodo in the Gambir district of Jakarta.

Baswedan cast his vote at a polling station near his private residence in Lebak Bulus in southern Jakarta.

Pranowo voted in Semarang, the capital of Central Java province, where he served as governor for a decade.

Leading in pre-poll surveys, Subianto cast his ballot in the Hambalang area of West Java province.

No survey has shown any of the three candidates passing the 50% mark to claim the presidency.

Early voting began overseas, where the Indonesian diaspora has been casting their ballots since Feb. 5.

Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy and the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy.

It is also holding the world's largest single-day elections to choose around 20,000 administrative officials across 38 provinces where 820,000 polling stations have been set up.

Some seven million officials have been deployed to oversee polls on election day, marred by rains and flooding in some areas.

It marks the second time since 2019 that Indonesia will hold presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously.

Besides presidential hopefuls, some 10,000 candidates are vying for positions.

Indonesia is home to more than 274 million people.

The Southeast Asian country held its first free general elections in 1999 and has since 2004 directly elected its president.

Spread across 17,000 islands, Indonesia has three time zones.

Barring police and military personnel, anyone aged 17 and above can vote.

Polling in the eastern provinces of Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, West Papua, South Papua, Central Papua, Papua Highlands and Southwest Papua closed two hours early.

Likewise, polling had stopped an hour early in South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces.