Voting begins in Indonesia's general elections

JAKARTA -- Voting for Indonesia's general elections officially began Wednesday morning, according to the country's General Elections Commission (KPU).

According to KPU Chairman Hasyim Asy'ari, the half-day voting kicked off at 7:00 am and will end at 1:00 pm successively in Indonesia's eastern, central and western time zones. Residents of Papua, which is located at the eastern corner of the country, are the first ones to vote.

Presidential election and legislative election take place simultaneously in the general elections. Over 204 million registered voters, the majority of whom are under 40, are expected to cast their votes for the president and vice president, members of the People's Representative Council, the regional representative council, and representatives at provincial, district and city level.

The candidates elected will make up a new administration that will govern Indonesia for the next five years.

The KPU announced that candidates from 2,710 electoral districts will compete for a total of 20,462 seats of the country's different legislative levels, including 580 seats in the People's Representative Council.