Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is projected to win Indonesia's presidential election run-off with 62 per cent of the vote, monitoring groups said today.
A senior official from the US-based National Democratic Institute said incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri had about 38 per cent of the vote.
Although the sample count taken from across the country was not yet complete, the official said the final numbers would hardly change.
Indonesians voted today in a landmark election expected to remove President Megawati Sukarnoputri and install a former general who has vowed firmer leadership in fighting terror and boosting the economy.
The election run-off between frontrunner Mr Yudhoyono and Ms Megawati in Indonesia's first direct presidential ballot caps a turbulent and bloody six years since longtime strongman Suharto stepped down in 1998.
"With the assumption there is no violation to the counting of the ballots, I do believe, God willing, I could win this election," Mr Yudhoyono told reporters before casting his vote near his home on the outskirts of the capital.
The election comes 11 days after Islamic militants believed to be from the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah killed nine people and wounded 182 with a car bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, the third major attack in as many years.
The first of some 151 million registered voters to cast their ballots were in eastern Indonesia, including in Ambon in the Moluccas island province, 1,440 miles east of Jakarta, where deadly Muslim-Christian clashes erupted recently.
With several time zones, most polls will be open for six hours with those in the west closing at 1.00 p.m. Jakarta time.
Officials may keep polls open later if there are still large numbers of voters waiting to cast ballots or for other reasons.
Early results should start coming in tonight night and a final result will be declared on October 5th.