Summary

  • Millions of people across Indonesia's 17,000 islands and three time zones have now voted for their next president

  • Unofficial results predict a win for defence minister Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander dogged by allegations of human rights abuses

  • Those results currently show Prabowo has won more than 50% of the vote - meaning he avoids a second round run-off

  • The predicted win has prompted fears that Indonesia is in danger of sliding back towards its authoritarian past

  • Anies Baswedan, who was labelled the dark horse of the race, appears to have secured second place in the quick count

  • Ganjar Pranowo, whose party supported outgoing President Widodo's two previous campaigns, has come third according to unofficial results

Live Reporting

Edited by Flora Drury

  1. Election in numbers

    It’s the world’s biggest single-day election with some 205 million Indonesians eligible to cast votes. Slightly more than half of the electorate are aged below 40. One has to be at least 17 to vote.

    Voters will be electing not just the president and vice-president, but also 580 parliamentarians and more than 20,000 regional lawmakers.

    Close to 260,000 candidates have registered, and 18 political parties are running in the legislative election.

    More than 800,000 polling stations have been set up all over the archipelago.

    Election officer in Indonesia with ballotsEPA

  2. Hello and welcome

    Joel Guinto
    BBC News

    Voting centres have just opened in Indonesia and millions are making their way to polling stations to cast their ballots for representatives in the legislature, the vice-president and, most important of all, the top job of president.

    The current, popular president, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who rose to power on the back of his “man of the people” image, is stepping down after 10 years in office.

    But his exit has been tainted by concerns that he is laying the groundwork for a political dynasty - his son is the running mate of frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, a retired general who served under the country’s former dictator, Suharto.

    Also in the race are Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, both of whom are former governors of some of Indonesia’s most populous regions.

    Follow us as we bring you the latest developments across the country throughout the day.