Quick Facts

• General election takes place on April 9.
• 12 parties are competing. Plus another three parties in semi-autonomous Aceh province.
• There are 186,569,233 registered voters and 545,647 polling stations.
• Personalities outweigh policies. Parties are either: secular centrist nationalist or Islamic-leaning centrist nationalist or conservative Islamic.
• None of the major parties has a clean track record.
• Entering politics is widely viewed as a means of gaining access to funds and power, rather than serving the people.
• Campaigning means banners, noisy street rallies, music concerts and glib TV ads, rather than informed policy debates.
• Big money will be spent on efforts to buy popularity. The parties have registered a total of Rp 927 billion ($83 million) for preliminary campaign budgets. More could come from illegitimate sources.
• The biggest spender so far is ex-general Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra Party with a declared budget of over Rp 184 billion ($16 million).
• Most people joining rallies are paid to do so.
• Celebrities are recruited to enliven proceedings.
• Parties have paramilitary security and "youth" wings, supposedly to ensure parades run smoothly but some become involved in thuggish activities.
• Voting is done by piercing a ballot sheet with a nail. This is called coblos.
• Before leaving a polling station, voters have to dip their index finger into "indelible" ink to prevent any multiple voting efforts.
• Logistical problems are expected and losing parties will likely claim foul play.
• The election process is supervised by the General Elections Commission (KPU), an organization which was created in 1999.
• Vote counting will take about a month, possibly longer.
• According to opinion polls, the top three parties will be PDIP, Golkar and Gerindra. The Islamic parties and the smaller nationalist-secular parties will have to form coalitions in order to field their own presidential candidate or to support another party's candidate.
• Presidential election takes place on July 9. If there is no outright winner with a majority of over 50%, a run-off election between the top two contestants will be held in September.
• Some parties won't name their presidential candidates until the general election results are known.
• Prabowo was widely expected to win the presidential election until popular Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo stole the limelight in 2013.
• PDIP's candidate Jokowi is expected to win, as he represents fresh blood, change and hope.
• On October 20, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will complete his second term and Indonesia's seventh president will be sworn in.