The polarisation of the electorate has given rise to dark predictions about the day after the vote, but if Americans want to see what the breakdown of a national consensus and politics-as-usual looks like, the latest reports from Mosul in Iraq - a multi-ethnic city of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen turned into a nightmare jihadist underworld - are surely warning enough.

As our chief correspondent Paul McGeough pointed out more than 18 months ago, the roots of the Islamic State problem are to be found in the dysfunction of government in Baghdad, not the pages of the Koran.

Indonesia's democracy is of a similar vintage to Iraq's but has seen a far smoother progress, though even it has its hiccups. The rise of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as Ahok, has tested the overwhelmingly Muslim nation's tolerance for religious and ethnic minorities - Ahok is Christian and ethnically Chinese - holding positions of power. The latest spat to embroil the tough-talking Ahok - over a verse of the Koran and its implications for his candidacy -  could be his most significant hurdle yet. Here's hoping that Indonesians can see through all this smoke and noise back to the nation's founding principles and cast their votes accordingly.

Other stories that are well worth a read:

Imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi faces more lashes, according to his supporters;

Ever wondered about the influence of bots - small programs that run automated tasks online - on the political process? Chris Zappone from the Foreign Desk explains why you should.