Jakarta – Nan Main knows that she is a registered voter, but doesn't know who she'll be voting for in August.

"For sure I'm going to vote; I got a letter yesterday saying I'm eligible and I have a kartu keluarga," the Betawi native said referring to the family registration card.

"But I don't know who are the contenders... One of the names starts with B – Bowo something," said Nan, a housewife who lives in South Jakarta subdistrict of Pondok Pinang.

Jakarta's first direct gubernatorial election is just around the corner, yet many of the city's 5.6 million registered voters are relatively ignorant of its details. The capital has a population of around 10 million people.

Another Pondok Pinang resident, Rahma, fared better, managing to name the two contestants she felt were dominating the race.

"The two prominent candidates who have been campaigning fiercely are Adang Daradjatun and Fauzi Bowo," the Pasar Jumat stall assistant, said referring to the former deputy military police chief and the incumbent deputy governor.

"I used to favor Fauzi, but ever since I learnt that Golkar, the PDI-P and the PDS are supporting him, I lost interest," she said referring to Soeharto's political machine, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and the Prosperous Peace Party.

The three parties are among 16 that grouped into a coalition to support Fauzi and his running mate Prijanto, a retired army officer.

Rahma said the younger and better educated residents in her neighborhood had a better understanding of the election process.

"My mother is just an elderly housewife; all she cares about is the prices of sembako (the nine basic staples). Whichever candidate she chooses in the end, her choice would be based on her children's."

Rahma added that she first learned about the election from posters and political discussions on TV.

The official campaign period will run between July 22 and Aug.2, but candidates have already tried to win voters' hearts.

On Friday, Fauzi's camp distributed campaign T-shirts to more than 1,000 residents of Jl. Mangga Besar XIII in West Jakarta who were left homeless by a big fire on Thursday. "Everything vanished during the fire; my clothes, important documents and other belongings disappeared. Luckily, there was a partisan from the command post unit of the PDI-P in the area who gave me T-shirt to change into," said Mulyani, a victim.

When asked whether he was registered to vote, he said, "I am already listed as a voter, but I don't know which candidates I will vote for."

"Honestly, I don't really understand the meaning of the election. I only follow the instruction of my neighborhood unit's leader," he said.

Last month, the candidates turned another fire into an early campaign ground.

"Both candidates, Fauzi and Adang came to help us. Although I supposed it was also part of the campaign, but somehow we couldn't just refuse useful things," said Amir Hamzah, one of the neighborhood unit heads in Duri Selatan, Tambora subdistrict in West Jakarta, where more than 2,000 houses caught fire in May.

Colorful banners and stickers appeared in both Tambora and Mangga Besar overnight.