Obama the choice of Democrats in Indonesia

Feb 5, CNN

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the first battle of the Super Tuesday showdown when Democratic Party voters in Indonesia -- where Obama spent four years of his childhood -- picked him over Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Seventy five percent of the nearly 100 votes cast by expatriate Americans a minute after midnight Indonesia time (12 p.m. Monday EST) went to Obama. The rest were cast in favor of Clinton, said Arian Ardie, country committee chair for Democrats Abroad.

Ardie said he was not permitted to disclose the exact number of votes cast, and added that the results were preliminary and still need formal verification.

Ardie said that Obama's time in Indonesia was part of his appeal among expatriate voters in the southeast Asian country.

"I think it factored in to the extent they saw someone with strong international experience," he said. "But I don't think it was the primary factor."

The voting at a hotel in Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta was the first in-person casting of ballots in a coast-to-coast contest for Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls Tuesday. Voters will go to the polls in 24 states and American Samoa.

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photo: TA girl walks past the school in Jakarta, Inodnesia, where Barack Obama attended as a boy (AFP)