Candidates for president are nominated as individuals (along with a vice-presidential running partner); however, support from the main political parties is likely to play a crucial role in influencing the result.

PAN politician Hanafi Rais, writing three days before the results were announced, sent a press release which stated: "We congratulate Bapak Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla — who will helm the national leadership for the next five years".

[29] Out of fear that inter-party tension could lead to riots such as those which led to the downfall of former president Suharto, the Indonesian government deployed over 250,000 police officers throughout the country.

[30] Following bomb threats against Jakarta City Hall, after the KPU's announcement military officials tightened security around it Commission's headquarters.

[30] On 22 July 2014, the day that the KPU was due to announce its official tally, Prabowo withdrew from the recapitulation process after having insisted on his victory since the initial quick counts were released.

He attributed this withdrawal to Indonesia "failing in its duty to democracy" because of "massive cheating that is structured and systematic",[32] and stated that he and Hatta "exercise our constitutional right to reject the presidential election and declare it unconstitutional".

[27] According to Douglas Ramage, Managing Director for Indonesia at BowerGroupAsia,[33] this was the first time since reformasi (the Reformation) began in 1998 that the legitimacy of the election process has been questioned; he declared that the country was entering "uncharted territory".

[34] Under the presidential election law, Prabowo could face up to six years in prison and a 100 billion rupiah ($10 million) fine for withdrawing.

[27] Observers denied Prabowo's allegations of cheating, finding that the elections were "generally fair and free"; Maswadi Rauf of the University of Indonesia stated that there was "no sign of significant fraud", and that Prabowo's withdrawal simply reflected "the real attitudes of the elite, who are not yet ready to accept losing".

However, the official tally continued; the Commission chief, Husni Kamil Manik, said that they had already fulfilled their obligations by inviting the witnesses.

[38] Prabowo's camp later stated that it intended to report the KPU to the police for continuing its recapitulation despite calls for a delay and questions of the vote's validity.

[39] After the announcement, Joko Widodo stated that growing up under the authoritarian and corrupt New Order, he would have never expected someone with a lower-class background to become president.

[40] The Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, posted his congratulations on Twitter minutes after the election, expressing hope that Joko Widodo would work towards improving relations between the two countries.

A member of the Prabowo-Hatta campaign team outlined the eight final moves that Prabowo plans to take to overturn the election result.

These are:[44] Prabowo Subianto took an appeal against the election result to the Constitutional Court of Indonesia, alleging "structured, systematic and massive" violations and that up to 24.1 million votes were "troubled".