Voting has begun in various parts of the Indonesian archipelago to select a new president to lead the third-largest democracy in the world.

With nearly 259,000 candidates vying for 20,600 seats across the 17,000-island archipelago in the largest single-day election in history, all eyes are on Widodo's president and the future of his ambitious program following ten years in charge of the greatest economy in Southeast Asia.

Former governors Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan are running against controversial front-runner Prabowo Subianto, a former commander of special forces who was once believed to be a close aide to the late strongman dictator Suharto of Indonesia.

Defense Minister Prabowo is a candidate in his third election following two defeats at the hands of Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi. In an attempt to preserve his legacy, Jokowi is subtly endorsing and betting on his old adversary as a continuity candidate, which includes a position for his son as Prabowo's running mate.

Jokowi, who is not eligible to run again, has not formally endorsed anyone, but his implicit support is helping Prabowo, who is predicted by two surveys conducted last week to receive the majority of the vote and avoid a runoff.

According to those polls, Prabowo had 51.8% and 51.9% of the vote, while Anies and Ganjar were 27 and 31 points behind, respectively. A candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote and 20% of the ballot in half of the nation's districts in order to win hands-down.

There is a six-hour timeframe for voting. Due to Indonesia's three time zones, polls in the east have already opened, and by 0600 GMT, those in the west will close.

Later on Wednesday, preliminary results based on so-called "quick counts" of a sample of votes are anticipated. The unofficial tallies recorded by reliable companies have shown to be accurate in past elections.