The Afghan election commission said on Saturday that vote counting is underway after polling in the country’s crucial presidential and provincial councils’ elections ended peacefully.
According to officials, most polling centers opened at 8 am but some opened an hour later due to security measures, rainy weather and late arrival of election workers. As a result, the election officials had extended polling time by one hour.
Millions of Afghans ignored the Taliban threats and thronged to the polling centers despite bad weather and rain in many parts of the country.
An Afghan official overturns a ballot box before vote counting can begin. PHOTO: REUTERS
Officials said that people polled votes in large numbers in many parts of the country including the areas considered to be under the influence of the Taliban. Nearly 2,600 individuals also contested in the provincial council elections.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday announced more than 200 of 6,400 voting centers across the country remained closed due to security concerns.
Officials described the process as more successful than expected. However, in some parts of Afghanistan people complained of rigging and a shortage of ballot papers.
One of the front-runners, Abdullah Abdullah, told the media that he had been in close contact with the elections officials and conveyed concerns over the shortage of ballots in several polling stations.
Election officials said they had received hundreds of complaints regarding irregularities. The people could register their complaints against candidates, election observers and officials, officials said, also stating that the results of the complaints will be announced next month after investigation.
The Taliban had issued instructions to their fighters to disrupt the elections. However, they did not succeed in creating any major problem during the polling.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid Saturday claimed that their fighters have carried out over 200 attacks, inflicting casualties. He also said that most of the polling centers had been closed.
The Afghan media quoted officials as saying there had been a few minor incidents of violence but no major attack was reported from any part of the country. The media also reported violence resulting in 10 deaths including some policemen.
The polls come at a time of increased uncertainty for the central Asian nation as American troops look to withdraw from a 13-year occupation that began after the 9/11 attacks. President Hamid Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since the American occupation, is bound by term limits, and will step down after this term is completed. The build up to the election has been marred by violence as the Taliban stepped up its campaign to dissuade Afghans from voting in an election that, it thinks, is a sham.
9:00pm
Karzai: "We showed the world we are a democracy."
— Kevin Sieff (@ksieff) April 5, 2014
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7:47pm
IEC's Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani tells media that election officials are ready to manage second-round of voting if need be.
Preliminary results show we are leading but we must wait for the results to be finalised.
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) April 5, 2014
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7:46pm
Independent Election Commission says 65% of all voters were male, 35% female.
There are reports of serious fraud in several locations but all is documented and will be passed on to ECC for investigation.
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) April 5, 2014
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5:59pm
BREAKING :In All Afghanistan Voting Counting process Officially started . Afghan Election Commission
— Abdulhaq Omeri (@AbdulhaqOmeri) April 5, 2014
An Afghan voter shows her inked finger after she cast her ballot at a local polling station in Kabul on April 5, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
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5:52pm
Polling stations start to close for #Afghanistan presidential election, with no major attack seen during the day. #AFP
— Emmanuel Duparcq (@EDuparcq) April 5, 2014
#IEC's Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail congratulates #Afghanistan on a peaceful election with turnout that surpassed all expectations #AfghanElections
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) April 5, 2014
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5:39pm
Election officials have reiterated that anyone in line at a polling center by 5PM can still vote #AfghanElections #Afghanistan
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) April 5, 2014
Despite IEC promise to keep polls open until 5 pm, some along Kabul's Jalalabad rd closed at 4, with no ballots.
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) April 5, 2014
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5:34pm
Almost 5pm and #Kandahar city is still voting after new ballot papers delivered
— jessdonati (@jessdonati) April 5, 2014
Afghan villagers carry election materials on donkeys' backs in the Dara-e-Noor district of Nangarhar province in Eastern Afghanistan on April 4, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
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5:22pm
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5:14pm
https://twitter.com/ElSnarkistani/status/452416179202969600
This is just amazing. About two hours before polling closes, many provinces report running out of ballot paper. #AfgVotes
— Mujib Mashal (@MujMash) April 5, 2014
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5:10pm
An Afghan policeman keeps watch as Afghan voters line up to vote at a local polling station in Ghazni on April 5, 2014. PHOTO: AFP Rahmatullah Alizadah
Despite concerns about ballot shortages, polling centers like #Kabul's Makroryan center remain stocked and serving voters #AfghanElections
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) April 5, 2014
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https://twitter.com/mattaikins/status/452407577230721024
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More than 350,000 Afghan troops were deployed, guarding against attacks on polling stations and voters. The capital, Kabul, was sealed off by rings of roadblocks and checkpoints. In the city of Kandahar, cradle of the Taliban insurgency, the mood was tense. Vehicles were not allowed to move on the roads and checkpoints were set up at every intersection.
Reuters
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4:30pm
An Afghan security personnel keeps watch near the Serena hotel after the attack on 21 March, 2014. Photo: Reuters
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Most people expect the election will be better run than the chaotic 2009 vote that handed the outgoing president, Hamid Karzai, a second term amid massive fraud and ballot stuffing. The stronger the next president's mandate, the less vulnerable Afghanistan could be to instability. One major concern is that it could take several months for a winner to be declared at a time when the country desperately needs a leader to stem rising violence as foreign troops prepare to leave.
Reuters
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4:15pm
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Muhammad Irfan/ Zia Ahmad Yousafzai
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4:00pm
Voters giving up waiting for ballots in Kandahar, official says. "A lot of people who were there for a long time left and went home."
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) April 5, 2014
Voting was largely peaceful in Afghanistan's presidential election on Saturday, with only isolated attacks on polling stations as a country racked by decades of chaos embarked on its first ever democratic transfer of power. A roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded two others in the southern city of Qalat as they were returning from a polling station, while four voters were wounded in an explosion at a voting centre in the southeastern province of Logar. There were no reports of more serious attacks on an election that Taliban insurgents had vowed to derail, branding it a U.S.-backed sham, and many voters said they were determined to make their voices heard despite the threats. "I am here to vote and I am not afraid of any attacks," said Haji Ramazan as he stood in line at a polling station in rain-drenched Kabul. "This is my right, and no one can stop me." Reuters
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3:42pm
An election official waits for voters at a polling station in Adraskan district if Herat province April 5, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
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3:40pm
https://twitter.com/mattaikins/status/452393401011691520
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3:33pm
Hearing that process of voting is taking more than 6min at some polling stations in Kabul. That's too long.
— Rob Crilly (@robcrilly) April 5, 2014
Some provinces w reports (unconfirmed) of ballot shortage: Herat, Faryab, Samangan, Takhar, Bamiyan, Kabul, Kandahar, Nimroz, Balkh, Badghis
— Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) April 5, 2014
Afghanistan's election commission says 211 additional voting centers remained closed due to security threats, on top of 750 closed before.
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) April 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/damonwake/status/452304677800251392
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3:24pm
https://twitter.com/mattaikins/status/452360080844152832
Afghan voters line up outside a local polling station in Kabul on April 5, 2014. Photo: AFP/ SHAH MARAI
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3:10pm
https://twitter.com/ABalkhi/status/452285663598374913
Afghan President Hamid Karzai shows his inker finger as he makes a statement to the press and on live television after having cast his ballot at a local polling station in Kabul on April 5, 2014. AFP PHOTO/WAKIL KOHSAR
https://twitter.com/mSaleemJaved/status/452311908260253696
https://twitter.com/asadmunir38/status/452320182330195968
https://twitter.com/nadeemmalik/status/452337724406898688
Just about every family member in Kabul I've heard from has voted. My Facebook is inundated with voter selfies. #AfghanElections
— #CEASEFIRE 🇵🇸✡️🇦🇫🧠🏳️⚧️ (@JShahryar) April 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/Book_Of_Stephen/status/452382436702171137
Women considerable participation in @ashrafghani rallies indicate a good sign of democracy. #AfghanElectionspic.twitter.com/u3cFXwG0ng
— Alireza Akbari (@ali_r_akbari) April 5, 2014
They(Taliban) killed a woman @NiedringhausAP yesterday and today All #AfghanWomen cameout to cast vote and showing fingers#AfghanElections
— Shama Junejo (@ShamaJunejo) April 5, 2014
COMMENTS (12)
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@Farhan: thank u man u r a man of bright mind and u have good feelings for afghanistan future thats a positive sign.
we pround to mr.doctor ashraf ghani he is an elegible leader to rule on the sole of afghanistan and insallah we hope that he will get the victory on a huge lead......
why are there 18 million voter cards in circulation when there are only 12 million registered voters?
best of luck Afghans. we pakistanis always want to see you happy and strong.
Good luck to Afghan nation for this very important day Choose wisely whoever you are going to vote for as it's important for future of Afghanistan by getting rid of traitors like Karzai.
congratulation to the people of Afghanistan for defeating GUN....
Good luck Afghans. We Pakistanis pray and want to see you people strong. A peaceful Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan.
Long lines of voters in Afghanistan is one of the greatest moment of our lives.
Sad to see editorial standards at the Tribune are so poor to publish a grammatical mistake in the headline. "An historic..." Really??!
It chokes me up when I think that one day the region will see true democracy where every citizen will have the same rights. Far from the manipulators who wrangle for power in the name of religion and wayward ideologies. The Afghan people deserve it.