Voters headed to the polling stations in Indonesia on Wednesday to cast their ballots in the presidential and legislative elections. In the world’s biggest single-day election, all eyes are on who will succeed current President Joko Widodo, after 10 years in power.
The presidential race is between three candidates: two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, and the controversial frontrunner Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto. Prabowo is running in his third election after losing twice to current President Widodo. Widodo, who cannot run again, has not explicitly endorsed a candidate but is said to support Prabowo, whose running mate is Widodo’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
To win outright, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. If this is not met, the two top candidates with the highest number of votes must be put to a second round of voting.
Two surveys from last week predicted that Prabowo should win a majority vote and avoid a second round of voting. The new president is expected to be sworn in in October.