Indonesians go to the polls on Monday in what will be the third free nationwide elections in the country's history. The ballot is to be the most complex and biggest single day event ever staged by a developing country. And there are concerns that some people will be left out of the process.

Presenter/Interviewer: Marion MacGregor

Speakers: Henry Valentino, senior advisor to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems; Smita Notosusanto, Executive Director of the Centre for Electoral Reform

MacGregor: Indonesia is a huge and complex society. Ditto, its electoral system. With about 147.3 million people expected to cast their votes in the parliamentary polls on Monday, there's possibly never been a bigger test of the democratic process. Henry Valentino is a senior advisor to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, IFES. in Jakarta.

Valentino: For the national legislature, there are 550 seats and there's over 7,700 candidates for the national seats. For the DPD, which is their new upper chamber, there are 128 seats and there's 940 candidates for those seats. For the DPRDs, which is the provincial level, there are approximately 50,000 candidates competing for over 1800 seats. There's also the city level legislatures, and they have about 390,000 candidates, and there's about 12,700 seats for those, so altogether you're looking at over 440,000 candidates.

MacGregor: If this sounds confusing, then pity the poor voters. They'll be presented with four ballot papers, some of which will be physically wider than the polling booths, with up to 336 candidates' names to choose from.

Valentino: It is certainly a different process than what was used in 1999, however if the voters vote in the same manner that they did in 1999 they can still cast a legal ballot. The difference this time is that they are also eligible to select a representative from that political party. So the option is with the voter, whether he or she wants to just select the party only or to select the party and the representative.

MacGregor: While the electoral reforms have been promoted as an expansion of the democratic process, the complex procedures have raised serious concerns about voter participation. The Executive Director of the Centre for Electoral Reform in Jakarta, Smita Notosusanto, says many people will be excluded.

Notosusanto: First on the list are those who are illiterate, because they cannot read the names of the candidates so they will probably only punch the symbol of the party, which is also valid. But also people who are beyond the reach of a ballot station or radio or newspaper, where most of the voter education information are printed or are broadcast.

MacGregor: At this stage, no party or candidate has a significant lead, leaving things very much in the hands of the voters. Pollsters are expecting at least a ninety per cent to turn out. And according to a recent IFES survey, most do understand the process. However Smita Notosusanto believes more than one in five votes cast will be invalid.

Notosusanto: In many of the mock elections that we did, many of the voters only punched for instance one candidate's name, or they punched the candidate's name but not under the political party symbol that they punched – so cross voting – and that's not valid.

MacGregor: To observers, the sheer scale of the election might seem to be the biggest obstacle. But Smita Notosusanto says it's not size but the failure of the authorities to educate voters that's the problem.

Notosusanto: I think there is very minimal effort from the government and the election commission to conduct large-scale and effective voter education. When we have three new systems, very early on voter education programs should have been conducted, not just two months before election day.

MacGregor: In just five days time, it'll all be over ... that is until July, when Indonesians will have to go through the process once again for the country's first direct presidential election ... with a second round after that if no one gets more than fifty per cent the first time around. Little wonder it's been called the year of voting frequently.