W

ith opinion polls showing the presidential race had narrowed in the past month, supporters of frontrunner Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo made every effort to reach polling stations on Wednesday to guarantee a victory for their candidate.

Henry Suhandar, a 23-year-old student of chemical engineering at the National Institute of Technology (ITENAS) in Bandung, traveled to his hometown of Serpong, Banten, on the outskirts of Jakarta, via a five-hour motorbike ride in the early hours of Wednesday morning to make sure he could cast his ballot in time at the polling station where he was registered.

Henry was accompanied by two friends, both first-time voters, who like him took a motorbike after failing to get a seat on a shuttle from Bandung to Jakarta.

'€œI simply don'€™t want this country to be less democratic or fall back into something like the New Order regime,'€ Henry said.

Many had worried of the possibility of a return to the authoritarianism of Soeharto'€™s New Order, as Jokowi'€™s rival, Prabowo Subianto, a general in the regime and the former president'€™s ex-son-in-law, had indicated his intention to adopt some aspects of the old regime'€™s style.

Prabowo had said if elected he would name Soeharto a national hero.

Ahead of Wednesday'€™s election, several well-known figures in the country, including artists, intellectuals and religious leaders, called on all eligible citizens to cast a vote, especially after opinion polls showed the race had tightened to a slim 4-percent lead for Jokowi.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) had previously predicted a turnout of 75 percent of eligible voters, up from the 73 percent of the April'€™s legislative election.

The KPU registered 188.26 million domestic voters and 2.03 million voters overseas for the 2014 presidential election. Around 478,883 polling stations were set up domestically and 498 abroad.

Previously, subdistrict Polling Committee (PPS) officials in Jakarta received a greater than expected number of A5 forms, which enable voters to cast their ballot at a different polling station than the one they are registered at on the final voter list (DPT).

On election day, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook were filled with posts from many first-time voters, who expressed pride for having voted and uploaded photos of their inked pinky fingers.

Ario Anindito, 29, a comic artist and illustrator, said he finally cast a ballot after skipping the two previous presidential elections in 2004 and 2009.

'€œSince we have very different candidates with different backgrounds, this time I had to choose. It'€™s like giving hope. I was a bit worried we could fall into the same trap [of the New Order],'€ said Ario, who voted in Buah Batu, Bandung, West Java.

Rosa Bean, 32, who lives in the Pondok Bambu rusunawa (low-cost rental apartment) in East Jakarta, did not vote in 2009, but did cast a ballot in 2004.

Showing her ID card and a letter confirming her current residence at the rusunawa, she appeared undeterred by having to register at a different polling station in Cirebon, West Java.

She argued her determination to vote was spurred by the same fear.

'€œI don'€™t completely trust them [the two tickets running in the 2014 election]; but there is no option of not choosing this time,'€ Rosa said. '€œI don'€™t want to see a regression to the previous regime.'€

A day before the election, a 29-year-old office worker living in Kebayoran Baru in Jakarta, Puti Novianda, traveled to her hometown in Bogor, West Java, to cast her vote.

Though she was not a first-time voter, she lamented that her younger brother opted not to cast a ballot this year.

'€œEveryone has the right not to vote, but I hope it is not because they are too lazy to go to polling stations,'€ Puti said. '€œVoting is our task, as good citizens, to implement democracy.'€