Indonesia votes for its president in world's biggest one-day election
Updated 21:01, 17-Apr-2019
CGTN
["china"]
00:54
Indonesians began voting in the world's biggest single-day election on Wednesday as polling stations opened following a six-month campaign to choose a new president and parliament.
The eight-hour vote across a country stretches more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) from its western to eastern tips.
Indonesia's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election Joko Widodo takes pictures with his supporters during his first campaign rally in Serang, Banten Province, Indonesia, March 24, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Indonesia's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election Joko Widodo takes pictures with his supporters during his first campaign rally in Serang, Banten Province, Indonesia, March 24, 2019. /Reuters Photo

President Joko Widodo, a furniture businessman who entered politics 14 years ago as a small-city mayor, is seeking re-election against former general Prabowo Subianto, whom he narrowly defeated in the last election, in 2014.
The economy dominated the hard-fought campaign, though the rise of political Islam loomed over the contest in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
Most opinion polls give Widodo a double-digit lead, but the opposition says the race is much closer and Prabowo told a news conference late on Tuesday that he expected to win with 63 percent of the vote.
Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election, greets supporters during his campaign rally in Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, March 28, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election, greets supporters during his campaign rally in Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, March 28, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Voting began first in the far-flung eastern province of Papua, which is two hours ahead of Jakarta, the capital.
Ballot papers were delivered with security escorts to remote regions of the country by plane, speedboat, canoe and horseback.

Quick counts

Nearly 350,000 police and soldiers will join 1.6 million paramilitary officers stationed across the country of 17,000 islands to safeguard the vote.
More than 192 million people are eligible to cast ballots in national and regional legislative elections being contested by more than 245,000 candidates.
Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. (2200 GMT on Tuesday) in the east and will close at 1:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) in the west.
Election materials are distributed to polling stations from a warehouse in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 16, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Election materials are distributed to polling stations from a warehouse in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 16, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Voters will have five paper ballots for president, vice president, and national and regional legislative candidates.
Unofficial "quick counts", based on samples from polling stations, will be released hours after voting ends. The winning presidential candidate could be known by late on Wednesday.
Official results will be announced in May. Any disputes can be taken to the Constitutional Court where a nine-judge panel will have 14 days to rule on them.
Source(s): Reuters