Indonesians wait their turn to vote at a football-themed polling station, decorated to attract voters with the ongoing Russia 2018 World Cup, during regional elections in Surabaya, East Java on June 27, 2018.Tens of millions of Indonesians voted on June 27 in regional elections seen as a gauge of President Joko Widodo’s chances for re-election next year to head the world’s third-biggest democracy. / AFP PHOTO / JUNI KRISWANTO
Tens of millions voted Wednesday in local elections seen as a gauge of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s re-election prospects, with free food, football stars and fancy dress on offer to lure electors.
Polling stations were decorated with posters of pin-up football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and election officials in one location even dressed as ghosts to boost the turnout.
Widodo, known as Jokowi, is popular across the 17,000-island archipelago. But he has struggled to keep his economic growth plans on track, while the growing power of hardline Islamist groups who oppose him could throw up a formidable challenge.

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