Jakarta (The Straits Times) - Indonesians go to the polls on Wednesday (April 17) to elect their President, Members of Parliament as well as local leaders at district levels.
This is what to expect on Polling Day.
POLLS OPEN AT 7AM
Polling stations for the long-awaited presidential and legislative elections across Indonesia open at 7am local time (8am Singapore time) on Wednesday. Registered voters have up until 1pm to cast their ballots in what is a complex five-stage process, starting with a comprehensive ID check.
FIVE BALLOT 'CARDS'
Each voter needs to cast their votes for five different levels of government, from the presidency - contested between the incumbent Joko Widodo and former general Prabowo Subianto - down to their regional and local representatives. Some of these ballot "cards" are printed on A2 paper, which is about the size of four sheets of A4 paper, due to the number of seats being contested. There are also ballots in braille for the visually impaired.
POLLS CLOSE AT 1PM
Votes will be manually counted at the polling stations after polls close at 1pm.
UNOFFICIAL QUICK COUNTS
The official results for the elections will be announced only about a week later, but unofficial "quick count" results will be released hours after polling ends.
Quick counts conducted by private polling and survey agencies, which look at a sample of ballots after polling closes to estimate the overall vote, have largely proved to be accurate in past elections.
OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS
A progressive release of the official election results will take place from April 25 to May 22, and candidates can contest the results from May 23 to June 15.
INAUGURATION OF LEADERS
Winners of the elections will be inaugurated by October this year for a five-year term.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-elections-what-to-expect-on-polling-day
