The vote counting at polling stations is the first step in the lengthy and laborious vote-counting and tabulating process of election returns, with the process scheduled to be finished by Dec. 16, according to the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on the eventual winners of the regional elections to remain humble and for the losers to accept the results in good faith.

President Prabowo Subianto called on any eventual winners and losers of the simultaneous nationwide local elections to reconcile, after he cast his vote at a polling station near his private residence in Hambalang, West Java on Wednesday.

Polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time, and vote counting be ongoing until Dec. 16.

Indonesia will hold on Wednesday its first-ever nationwide simultaneous regional elections, the largest in the nation’s history, to elect local leaders, who will influence the power play at the national level over the next five years.

Regional administrations and General Elections Commission (KPU) offices are preparing for the possibility that natural disasters may strike ahead of voting day for the regional elections on Wednesday, as some parts of the country experience increased flooding and landslides amid an intense rainy season.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah and two other officials from the provincial administration in a raid on Saturday as part of an extortion and illegal gratuities case related to funds for Rohidin’s reelection campaign.

Just days before the Nov. 27 regional elections, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named incumbent Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah and several other officials from the provincial administration suspects in a case of extortion and illegal gratuities allegedly used to fund Rohidin’s reelection campaign.

As the nation enters the blackout period before the Nov. 27 voting day, officials have reassured that all the regions are ready to hold the largest-ever simultaneous regional polls, as final preparations are underway.

Despite failing to secure a chance at reelection, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, who is not a member of any political party, has nevertheless endorsed one of the candidates for the next governor, prompting many to see next week’s election as a test of his political clout.

With little time left before the cooling-off period starts on Sunday, observers are calling on candidates and election organizers to push for peaceful elections to prevent politically fueled clashes that could cause even further democratic backsliding.

The Elections Supervisory Agency’s (Bawaslu) decision to let President Prabowo Subianto go scot-free following his explicit endorsement of a Central Java gubernatorial candidate pair has stoked concerns that state partisanship might once again rear its head in the November regional head elections.

The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has ruled that President Prabowo Subianto’s explicit endorsement of Central Java gubernatorial candidate pair Ahmad Luthfi and Taj Yasin Maimoen did not constitute an election violation, allowing the Gerindra party patron to go scot-free.   

With ruling coalition-backed candidates facing tough competition in the key battlegrounds of Jakarta and Central Java, former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has officially stepped out onto the campaign trail in a final push to boost his preferred candidates’ chances of winning the Nov. 27 regional head elections.

The campaign team of the Sampang regent candidate pair whose volunteer was killed said the assault was politically motivated, but the police have said it is too early to make such a conclusion.

Former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has openly thrown his support behind Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pair Ridwan Kamil and Suswono.

Former Central Java Police chief Ahmad Luthfi and former military chief Andika Perkasa remain locked in tight competition for Central Java governor, as shown in two surveys released a week before voting day on Nov. 27.

Instead of seeing the famed candidates initially projected to run, the West Java regional election this year features less popular figures vying to lead the country’s most populous province, with parties backing each candidate competing to secure a significant voter base for future elections.

The Constitutional Court has ordered the General Elections Commission (KPU) to hold reruns of the upcoming simultaneous regional elections within a year from the election day on Nov. 27 should a sole candidate fail to garner enough votes to win an uncontested election.

The Pramono Anung-Rano Karno Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pair, backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), appears on course to sweep the Jakarta race in a single round, a new poll suggests, with the duo widening their lead over the rival Ridwan Kamil-Suswono ticket, backed by President Prabowo Subianto’s big-tent Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM).

The policy follows allegations that regional leaders and officials have been deploying state resources in support of certain candidates in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-backed Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Pramono Anung, together with his running mate Rano Karno, visited the residence of the city’s former governor Anies Baswedan in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, on Friday.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Soekarnoputri looks determined to help defend her party’s electoral stronghold of Central Java as she prepares to visit the province once again ahead of local elections later this month.

Two strongly backed candidates are competing for Banten governorship on Nov. 27, with one contender coming from a family that has been influential for decades in Java’s westernmost province and the other having the support of a big coalition that holds a majority in the local legislature.

Medan, North Sumatra Mayor Bobby Nasution, the son-in-law of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, has a strong lead in the province’s upcoming gubernatorial election with 44.9 percent of respondents saying they support his ticket, a survey by Litbang Kompas has found.

Candidate Ridwan Kamil has lost his early polling lead in the Jakarta gubernatorial race amid struggles to consolidate support from within his electoral alliance, while his biggest rival, Pramono Anung, has now clinched top spot, albeit by a small margin, after seeing his popularity swell among various voter groups.

Several candidates running in the upcoming regional elections on the ticket of President Prabowo Subianto’s big-tent electoral alliance, the Indonesia Onward Coalition (KIM), appeared to be struggling to maintain their leads in recent opinion polls, indicating the ineffectiveness of the extensive political machinery backing them.