By Greg Jennett in Jakarta, staff

Jakarta governor Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo appears to be on track to become Indonesia’s seventh president, after more than 180 million voters cast their ballots in the country’s presidential election.

‘Quick count’ vote samples showed Mr Widodo ahead of ex-general Prabowo Subianto after polls closed at 1:00pm local time.

Almost all reputable polling companies taking samples of the huge ballot total are producing similar figures: Mr Widodo with about 52 per cent of the vote, Mr Subianto with around 47 per cent to 48 per cent.

Mr Widodo appeared on national television with his party chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri to thank supporters.

He stopped short of formally declaring victory, but said the quick count “revealed that we have won” and called for the electoral process to be allowed to “go fairly without any intervention and dishonesty”.
Indonesia votes

ABC News has comprehensive coverage of the 2014 Indonesia elections from our correspondents in the region

The quick count sample method used in the exit polls has proven reliable in the past, although the official declaration by the electoral commission is still a month away.

Mr Subianto is refusing to concede defeat, with his campaign saying it has data which contradicts the quick count numbers.

Today’s elections were a massive undertaking, with 185 million voters lodging their votes across 6,000 inhabited islands.

A national public holiday was declared to allow people to vote in 470,000 polling booths across the nation.

Before election day, polls showed Mr Subianto, a former Suharto-era general who is accused of human rights violations, almost closing the gap on Mr Widodo.
Australia’s relationship with new leader to be trickier

The election comes at a time when Australia is yet to fully resolve tensions with Indonesia over spying and asylum seeker boat turn-backs.

How does ‘quick count’ work?

The ‘quick count’ is a projection of the final vote based on a sample about 2,000 polling stations
An average of 300 votes are counted at each
It has historically been an accurate gauge of the final result in Indonesian elections
Some polling firms in Indonesia are not considered credible as they are tied to particular candidates and parties.
The Lowy Institute considers the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) and Indikator to be reliable polling firms.
The official results will be announced by Election Commission on July 22.

Source: Lowy Institute/Reuters

Experts warn Indonesia’s relationship with Australia is likely to be more difficult, as both candidates are more nationalist than outgoing president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Professor Aleksius Jemadu, dean of political sciences at Pelita Harapan University in Jakarta, says voters weighed up two distinctly different styles.

“Look at how Jokowi, Joko Widodo, make his campaign – he presents himself as a humble leader, more people oriented,” Professor Jemadu said.

But there is also a sense that Indonesians want a firmer hand after a decade of Mr Yudhoyono in power.

“The Prabowo campaign, the emphasis is on high-profile, the leader of a strong nation. There’s a lot to be proud of Indonesia and that’s why he emphasises more on the nationalistic overtones of his campaign of his foreign policy as well,” Professor Jemadu said.

Associate Professor Greg Fealy from the Australian National University says that whoever wins, Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is set to become trickier.

“I think it’s going to require the Australian Government to rethink its approach to Indonesia and it’s going to have to factor in the likelihood that a future Indonesian government is far less likely to forgive Australia,” Professor Fealy said.

“Neither of the two candidates in the current presidential election in Indonesia are as statesman-like and both of them have a far more overtly nationalist agenda and so that is likely to spell trouble if Australia is perceived as acting unilaterally or being heedless of Indonesia’s desires.

“[Joko Widodo] is a more stable person in his personality and he’s more pragmatic and I think more measured in his approach to difficult policy issues … Prabowo Subianto is a much more difficult person to predict because his range of behaviour is far wider and he’s extremely temperamental.”

SOURCE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-09/polls-close-in-indonesian-elections/5585382