Several consuls of foreign countries in Medan also attended the event, which was held at the official residence of the US Consul in Medan from 9 a.m. local time through Wednesday noon.

A youth leader, who introduced himself as Beldi, said he was very happy to attend the live broadcast via television of the election day at the house of US Consul in Medan Juha P. Salin.

Beldi said this year’s election was much more tense compared to the previous election because the voting suggested a tight race between the two presidential candidates, Donald Trump of the Republican Party and Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party.  

“Although I’m not a US citizen, I also felt tense watching this year’s US presidential election voting. The race was really tough,” Beldo told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

After months of a tough campaign, Trump shocked the world by beating Clinton in the race for the White House -- a victory that ends eight years of Democratic rule.

Salin said he was very happy to see the enthusiasm of Medan residents. He said the US government held the public viewing event to share the democracy experience.

“We invited Indonesian people to watch directly the US presidential election today as a form of our commitment as a country, which upholds a democratic process,” he said. (ebf)