'Just Like a Bride': Two Kabul voters, two impressions of the day
Via our Afghan Service:
A woman voter:
"“I just voted. Everything -- the voting process -- was clean and transparent. I am proud of our security forces. They made me feel so secure, just like a bride.”
A male voter in Kabul's Bagrami district:
"We were kicked out of the voting center. There weren’t enough ballot papers. We've been waiting outside the center since 12:00 PM and nothing has changed."
-- Freshta Jalalzai
10:165.4.2014
From our Afghan Service: Voters in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Amid high turnout, heavy rain and ballot shortages in some areas, the Afghan Election Commission just announced the extension. The elections commission head, Ahmad Yousuf Nouristani, says voting may be extended as late as 8PM if there is demand.
"We will wait for the very last person to cast his or her ballot," he said.
09:345.4.2014
A voter sent this picture to our Afghan Service. He claims that he was able to easily wash the purple ink -- which is supposed to prevent multiple votes -- from his finger.
09:265.4.2014
Our Afghan Service has the following from Kabul:
Two hours until the end of the voting process and some voters are already calling for the time to be extended for at least two more hours. Many people are still waiting in long lines to cast their votes due to crowds, rain, cold weather and technical problems. -- Freshta Jalalzai
09:205.4.2014
It's raining hard in Kabul, but correspondents here are reporting that the lines remain long. Voters are improvising -- placing long plastic sheets over their heads. -- Frud Bezhan
09:045.4.2014
A Reuters correspondent. As we wrote earlier, in an anti-fraud measure each station is limited to 600 ballots. Bamyan is a province in central Afghanistan.
08:585.4.2014
Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, says at least 12 suspected militants have been arrested in Kabul in the last 24 hours.
