Voters in Indonesia are picking a new president today. However, election day logistics can be daunting.
Start with some 200 million voters, spread across more than 17,000 islands and three time zones.
The political races include 18 national parties and 575 parliamentary seats.
But most of the attention is focused at the top — with three sets of candidates for president and vice president.
President Joko Widodo has reached his legal limit of two, five-year terms.
By law, he’s not supposed to endorse any candidates, but he’s very familiar with the ticket leading in the polls.
Widodo’s son is a candidate for vice president and his running mate as presidential candidate is the man who lost to Widodo for the past two elections: Prabowo Subianto.
Subianto is a former general who has been accused of human rights violations, to the point where he was dishonorably discharged from the military and banned from entering the United States.
That ban was lifted after he became Widodo’s defense minister in the president’s second term.
Demographics will play a role in this election.
The Indonesian General Elections Commission says more than half of the eligible voting population is under the age of 40.
