Outgoing president Jokowi’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka is one of the three vice-presidential hopefuls.

However the 36-year-old’s candidacy was possible only after a constitutional court made an exception to a rule last October that prevents those under 40 from running for the nation’s top posts.

The court’s then-chief justice Anwar Usman, also Jokowi’s brother-in-law, cast the deciding vote, sparking allegations of nepotism and corruption.

An ethics panel removed Anwar from his post for not recusing himself from the proceedings. Gibran’s running mate is Prabowo Subianto, who is considered the frontrunner.

Many analysts say Prabowo owes his popularity to Jokowi, who is perceived to have given a tacit blessing to the Prabowo-Gibran pairing.

Image source, Reuters

Nick Marsh
Asia Business Reporter, Singapore

Jokowi's time as president may be drawing to a close, but his most enduring legacy could still be yet to come.

During his tenure, he launched one of the most ambitious projects in Indonesia's history - a brand new city on the tropical island of Borneo called Nusantara. According to its planners, it will be a clean, green and modern alternative to Jakarta, which is overcrowded, polluted and threatened by rising sea levels.

Back in December, I was invited by the authorities to take a look at how construction was progressing. It was hard not to be impressed by the sheer scale of the project, which would bring sorely needed investment to a part of Indonesia that's long been neglected by the central government.

At the same time, thousands of acres of rainforest are being torn down and thousands of indigenous inhabitants will be displaced. Besides, there are serious doubts that Indonesia will even be able to attract the foreign investment it needs to pull this off.

Prabowo Subianto and Ganjar Pranowo both support the new capital. But Anies Baswedan, who is currently polling second behind Prabowo, has suggested he would massively scale the whole thing down - or even cancel it outright.

Indonesia is a country desperate to modernise. By 2045, it aims to be the world's fourth-largest economy and mega-projects such as Nusantara are emblematic of this ambition.

So its future - and President Jokowi's legacy in history - could hinge on this year's election.

Image source, Reuters

Across the country, Indonesians have gathered to watch as counting gets underway. Election workers hold up the ballots so people can see light shining through the holes - instead of using pens, Indonesian voters poke nails into their ballots.

Some officials say this is a fairer method of voting as some Indonesians are not familiar with writing instruments.

Unofficial figures put ex-military general Prabowo Subianto comfortably in the lead. The sample tallies have historically been a reliable indicator of final results, which may take a few weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

With more than half of the voters aged below 40, the youth vote will be crucial in deciding who gets to lead the world’s fourth most populous country.

Young voters want their next president to prioritise jobs and reduce the cost of living, several polls have shown.

A joint survey last year conducted by the Indonesia Survey Institute and the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute found unemployment to be the top concern for Gen Z and millennial respondents.

Latest statistics show the nation’s overall and youth unemployment rates hovering above pre-pandemic levels. Over the years, youth unemployment has also exceeded overall unemployment by a wide margin, external.

Reducing poverty and corruption are two other top-of-mind issues for respondents in this age group.

These echo findings from a survey by Jakarta-based think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies, which showed young Indonesians were most concerned about the high cost of living, limited job opportunities, and environmental degradation.

Image source, Reuters

The Prabowo-Gibran camp is hoping for a single-round election, their campaign spokesman Viva Yoga Mauladi said.

"We hope this will conclude in one round, because the Advanced Indonesia Coalition is fighting together... This will speed up the process of Indonesia's future developments, which are an important part of Prabowo-Gibran's vision and mission," he said.

They have to win more than 50% of the vote and at least 20% in 20 of the country’s provinces to avoid a second round of voting.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

We're now hearing from Indonesian presidential contender Anies Baswedan, who says it was too early to conclude the outcome of the election, asking Indonesians to wait for official results.

His remarks come after unofficial quick counts of votes from sample polling stations suggested Prabowo Subianto was taking the lead, and on track to win the presidency on the first round.

Stick with us as we continue to bring you the latest, as soon as we have it.

Muhammad Irham
Reporting from Jakarta

Ganjar Pranowo's campaign chief has said his team is looking into reports of election fraud.

The team received reports that the election process was "marred by various structural, systematic and massive frauds", and is gathering more information, Arsjad Rasjid told reporters.

He spoke after quick count tallies show Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka comfortably leading the race. Arsjad added that the team would wait for the official results of the vote.

As we've been reporting, early unofficial polls are indicating that former general Prabowo Subianto is on course to secure victory at the first time of asking.

His campaign looks to have garnered more than half of the vote, according to the tallies from four pollsters - with around 60% of the ballots counted.

Under Indonesia's rules, presidential elections go to a second round if no candidate has secured more than 50% of the total ballots, as well as at least 20% of votes in 20 of the country's 38 provinces.

Although it is important to note that a full result is still not expected for some time - given the scale of the challenge running one of the largest and most logistically complex elections in the world.

Jonathan Head
BBC South East Asia correspondent

Many voters say they are disillusioned with their voting options.

Businessman Dimas Subianto in central Jakarta had earlier said: "The difficulty of this election is that none of the choices is clear cut on the issues, so the challenge for us voters is to choose the least-worst option."

Another voter, Gayatri Gautama, who teaches cultural studies but is currently living in Germany said education was the most important issue.

"Indonesia is near the bottom in the world [when it comes to education]. But the candidates only focus on the bad stuff about each other.”

She supported the idea of ex-military commander Prabowo gaining office.

“I think President Jokowi’s move to support Prabowo is a brave move. Prabowo could be a good president. Indonesia really needs a strong figure now.”

Neither Prabowo nor Gibran have commented on the quick count tallies, which show the pair leading the race by a wide margin. But in the last 15 minutes, both have posted an illustration of them standing before Indonesia's national emblem on their official Instagram accounts.

The same illustration has appeared on their campaign posters.

Raja Eben Lumbanrau
Reporting from Papua

While most Indonesians cast individual votes, voters in some parts of the Papua province use a traditional voting model known as the "noken" system - where each community's votes are entursted to a tribal leader.

“There will be a village plenary session here [to decide the candidate]. The results of the village plenary session will be taken to the district," said Yared Lengka, who leads the polling station committee in Konan village.

In such villages, voters will have to reach a consensus on how to divide up their votes for each candidate. The ballots are cast into noken bags - traditionally woven out of wood fibre and leaves - at polling booths.

"If there is a potential for differences of opinion, we will take measures and coordinate with the community in the field," Yared said.

The noken system is preferred by the tribal communities, but it also controversially gives the tribes' leaders a lot of sway.

One trans woman in Aceh, Syerli, told us she hoped that whoever is elected president and local representative would pay attention to the fate of minorities in the religiously conservative territory.

Aceh is the only Indonesian province that practices Sharia law officially.

Syerli told the BBC many in her community are still scarred by an event in 2018, when police in North Aceh arrested a number of trans women, forcibly cutting their hair and shutting down the salon where they worked.

She said she hoped the new president would have more liberal views.

Image source, Getty Images

Trailing behind Prabowo is former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and his running mate Muhaimin Iskandar.

The 54-year-old has portrayed himself as an alternative to his two rivals, who are expected to continue most of outgoing president Jokowi’s policies if elected.

He has repeatedly claimed democracy has declined under Jokowi and pledged to be “consistent in keeping the country away from the practices of feudalism and nepotism”.

Anies and Muhaiman are currently trailing at around 21 - 25% of the votes, according to unofficial polls.

And in last place is Ganjar Pranowo, the former governor of one of Indonesia's largest provinces.

There's no political dynasty or family wealth behind his rise - only a skill to connect with people on a populist agenda: it's won him two terms in Central Java.

His campaign trail has focused on poorer areas across Indonesia's islands - starting in Papua in the far east and moving across the archipelago, staying in humble villagers' homes.

Unofficial results put him at between 17 - 18% of the vote.

Image source, Getty

Image source, Reuters

There was a time when Prabowo Subianto's name spooked most Indonesians.

The fiery ex-special forces commander, dogged by allegations of human rights abuses and disappearances, is the frontrunner in Indonesia’s three-way presidential race - and unofficial results now show him in the lead.

Many young voters appear to be charmed by the defence minister's slick makeover, but a Prabowo presidency is also alarming for some, who say he has never been held accountable for his alleged dark past.

Prabowo had been accused of human rights violations in Papua and East Timor that claimed hundreds of lives - however his exact role has never been proven.

Although he has denied these allegations, Prabowo was discharged from the military and went into self-imposed exile in Jordan. He made a comeback in 2019, when Jokowi appointed him as defence minister.

A young voter, who did not wish to be named, says she is "terrified" he will win: "If he could be an accomplice of silencing voices then he will be silencing those voices now if he gets elected."

Read more about the controversial leader here.

Yvette Tan
Live editor

Image source, Getty Images

It's just past 15:30 in Jakarta, 16:30 in Singapore and 08:30 in the UK. Counting of the millions of votes cast this morning is underway and unofficial results are trickling in, putting military strongman Prabowo firmly in the lead. The official result may take weeks to come in.

Here's a quick recap of what we've been covering:

• Millions of Indonesians have voted in what has been described as a high-stakes election, which took place in just six hours
• Voting was delayed in parts of Central Java and Jakarta due to heavy flooding caused by thunderstorms
• Analysts and opinion polls have forecast that former military general Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka - who is outgoing leader Jokowi’s eldest son - will likely win this first round of voting
• They have to win more than 50% of the vote and at least 20% in 20 of the country’s provinces to avoid a runoff
• Also in the presidential race are Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, both of whom are former governors of some of Indonesia's most populated regions

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates from our reporters across Indonesia - in Papua, Nusantara, and the capital Jakarta.

Jonathan Head
BBC South East Asia Correspondent

Early polls show Prabowo taking a strong lead, and getting well over the 50% threshold needed to win the presidency outright in the first round.

If these early predictions hold, the margin by which Prabowo has surpassed his two rivals should help avoid any serious challenge to the result.

But there will be many complaints over the way current President Jokowi used his popularity and his position as president to help the Prabowo camp, in return for getting his son Gibran chosen as Prabowo’s running mate.

Quick count tallies are trickling in, putting the Prabowo-Gibran duo firmly in the lead. These are not official results which could take weeks to come in.

Tallies from three independent pollsters - Indonesian Survey Institute, Population Center and Political Chart show the pair leading with an outright majority of between 57% and 61%.

However, these are still very early results and could yet change significantly in the hours to come.

Anato Moreira & Tri Wahyuni
Reporting from Atambua and Jakarta

Image source, BBC Indonesia

Voters under the age of 40 are going to be the decisive force in today’s election as they make up about 52% of the voters. The legal voting age in Indonesia is 17.

Daimond Nahak, 17 is a first-time voter. “I am very curious because this is the first time for me,” he said. “My hope is that the elected leaders can build the nation and country without corruption, collusion, and nepotism."

He comes from the town of Atambua near the border with East Timor which has seen relentless rain today. So the residents – mostly Catholics – chose to attend Ash Wednesday mass first.

Over in Jakarta, 19-year-old Stiven Sagala and his family travelled more than 12km to cast their votes. Stiven said he had been waiting for the opportunity to vote so that he could "contribute to choosing a leader".

He hopes that the elected leaders will live up to their pledges. "50% of the promises kept is already good," he said.

Quin Pasaribu
Reporting from Jakarta

Image source, Getty Images

At least six election workers have died in the days leading up to the elections, according to authorities.

Among them are two officers who died from exhaustion in Pidie, Aceh and a man who suffered a heart attack in Medan, North Sumatra. Several of these officers complained of dizziness shortly before they died.

In another case, the chairman of an election organising committee in Central Java was said to have fainted suddenly and died after he was taken to hospital.

Close to 900 election officers died in the last election in 2019, while some 5,200 officers fell sick, according to the then-elections commission chairman.

Indonesia's health ministry said last month that it will take "preventive measures" to reduce deaths, external like these.

It has taken a herculean logistical effort to prepare for this election across Indonesia's 17,000 islands. Workers have trekked through jungles and rowed on boats to deliver ballot boxes to the most remote areas. More than 205 million Indonesians were eligible to vote in the election, which took place in just six hours.

Election workers are paid about 1.1 million Indonesian rupiah ($70) per month on top of an allowance for transport and meals, lower than the average wage in the capital Jakarta.

Earlier we reported that voting was delayed in 10 villages in Central Java due to extensive floods. Parts of the capital city Jakarta have also been affected by flooding caused by thunderstorms.