Comment: Jokowi wins Indonesian election, exit polls show: experts respond

Joko Widodo appears the winner in Indonesia’s presidential election.

Indonesian presidential candidate Joko Widodo (R) and his wife Iriana Widodo (L) gestures after voting at a polling centre in Jakarta (AFP).

Jakarta governor Joko Widodo appears the winner in Indonesia’s presidential election according to an exit poll jointly released by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Cyrus.

Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla won 45.17% of votes compared to 42.15% for former general Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Hatta Rajasa, according to the CSIS-Cyrus' exit poll. The margin of error is 1.1%.

CSIS-Cyrus has compiled 97.75% of their data or 7820 respondents of 8000.

Indonesians voted today to elect their seventh president. The polls closed at 1pm (4pm AEST). This is the third direct presidential election after the fall of the New Order regime 16 years ago.

Expert reaction to follow.