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Indonesians vote in key elections Indonesians vote in key elections
(about 2 hours later)
Indonesians have been voting in parliamentary elections, with 38 national parties contesting the polls. Indonesians have voted in parliamentary elections - the third such poll since democracy was introduced a decade ago.
More than 170 million people were eligible to cast a ballot in a country made up of thousands of islands, many of them in different time zones. The ballot was largely peaceful, with more than 170 million eligible voters across the country's 17,000 islands.
The vote decides who can run for president in July. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party is expected to do well. However, at least six people died in violence in Papua province, where there is an active separatist movement.
At least six people died in election-related violence in Papua province. Nearly 40 parties contested the election, with the Democrat Party led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expected to do well.
The polls technically closed at midday (0500 GMT), although election officials said people still queuing would be allowed to cast their ballot. The ballot also decides who can run for president in elections scheduled for July.
A party or coalition that wins a fifth of the parliamentary seats can nominate a presidential candidate.A party or coalition that wins a fifth of the parliamentary seats can nominate a presidential candidate.
IrregularitiesIrregularities
With each election, Indonesia's democracy seems to inch forward another step, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Jakarta says. The polls closed at midday (0500 GMT) on Thursday, although election officials said people still queuing would be allowed to cast their ballot.
More than 170 million people are eligible to vote in Indonesia's polls The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Jakarta says there were lots of worries about this election - fears of violence in some provinces and fears of electoral fraud in others.
This time people got to vote directly for members of parliament, not parties, our correspondent says, which has made for a heated - and more expensive - campaign. But, she says, reports that have come in so far are mostly talking about minor procedural issues rather than serious disruption to the vote itself.
There was already concern about irregularities in the voter lists, she adds, and a lot of arguments about the voting process and the count are expected. In the newly-autonomous province of Aceh, where several political activists have been killed recently, voting appears to have been calm.
With hundreds of candidates, some voters may find the process confusing. But there was violence overnight in the easternmost province of Papua, where groups attacked buildings including a police station.
"There were too many ballot papers and we didn't recognise the faces or candidates," Rivaldi Aswin, a 25-year-old bank clerk, told the Associated Press. Tensions were high amid growing calls for Papuan independence ahead of the ballot. The Papuan police chief said the incidents were aimed at "sabotaging" the poll.
Top of many voters' concerns is the economy, with the election campaign ending just as the impact of the global financial crisis is being felt by voters. The main issue for many other Indonesians was the economy, along with endemic corruption.
"I hope parliamentarians can help make everything cheaper," Sukinah, 79, told Reuters after voting in Yogyakarta on Java island. The economy was top of many voters' concerns, as well as corruption
Exports are falling, foreign investment is drying up and millions of poor Indonesians are struggling to stay above the poverty line - in what is south-east Asia's biggest economy.
This time people were able to vote directly for members of parliament, not parties, our correspondent says, which has made for a heated - and more expensive - campaign.
But with hundreds of candidates, some voters may find the process confusing - and arguments about the voting process and the count are expected, she says.
"There were too many ballot papers and we didn't recognise the faces or candidates," Rivaldi Aswin, a 25-year-old bank clerk, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
The parliamentary elections may also provide a useful litmus test of whether politics in Indonesia, the world's largest majority Muslim country, are becoming more Islamic, analysts say.The parliamentary elections may also provide a useful litmus test of whether politics in Indonesia, the world's largest majority Muslim country, are becoming more Islamic, analysts say.
Tensions high This is only the third general election since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998, after which Indonesia made the transition to democracy.
Voting opened first in the country's easternmost province of Papua.
Earlier, between 80 and 100 people had attacked a police post in the provincial capital of Jayapura.
At least six people died in violence in Jayapura and elsewhere in the province, police said.
Tensions in Papua, where there is a separatist movement, are running high and some have called for a boycott of the elections.