Elections in Indonesia have taken place since 1955 to elect a legislature. At a national level, Indonesian people did not elect a head of state – the president – until 2004. Since then, the president is elected for a five-year term, as are the 560-member People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) and the 128-seat Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah).
Members of the People's Representative Council are elected by proportional representation from multi-candidate constituencies. Currently, there are 77 constituencies in Indonesia and each returns 3-10 Members of Parliament based on population. Under Indonesia's multi-party system, no one party has yet been able to secure an outright victory; parties have needed to work together in coalition governments. Members of the Regional Representative Council are elected by Single Non-Transferable Vote. There, Indonesia's 34 provinces treated as constituencies and, regardless of the size and population, every provinces return 4 senators.
Starting from the 2015 unified local elections, Indonesia start to elect governors and mayors simultaneously on the same date.
The voting age in Indonesia is 17 but anyone who has an ID card (Indonesian: Kartu Tanda Penduduk (KTP)) can vote, since persons under 17 who are or were married can get a KTP.
Indonesia's first general election elected members of the DPR and the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia (Konstituante). The election was organised by the government of Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo. Sastroamidjojo himself declined to stand for election, and Burhanuddin Harahap became Prime Minister.