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Afghan election officials count ballot papers after polls closed in Kabul on June 14.
Afghan election officials count ballot papers after polls closed in Kabul on June 14.

Live Blog: Election Day In Afghanistan

Latest News

-- The vote count continues, as does the investigation into hundreds of claims of vote fraud. Final preliminary results are expected on July 2, and final results on July 22.

-- Many media refrained from reporting violence during the vote, but officials said June 15 that more than 270 Taliban attacks were recorded, resulting in the deaths of 50 civilians.

-- In one attack, a roadside bomb exploded beside a minibus that was carrying Afghan election workers home, killing 10 adults and a child.

-- Taliban militants severed the voting fingers of 11 voters in Herat Province.

-- The Independent Electoral Commission initially said that there were signs that voter turnout exceeded 7 million, putting it roughly on par with the first-round vote in April.

-- Officials said that, of those who turned out, 38 percent were women and 62 percent were men.

* NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kabul
05:20 11.6.2014
Pakistan's ex-spy master endorses Abdullah

Abdullah and Ghani have received a flurry of endorsements in the past week.

Perhaps, the most surprising is from Pakistan’s former spy chief, Hamid Gul, who has backed Abdullah.

Gul trained Afghan resistance fighters against the Soviets and helped create the Taliban, whom Abdullah fought in the 1990s. But Gul, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency between 1987 and 1989, says Abdullah has the best chance of securing peace in Afghanistan.

In an interview with AFP in his home in Rawalpindi, Gul says: "Abdullah has a distinct advantage for future peace in Afghanistan -- if that is the objective and it should be -- that he is a jihadi. And the other people with him are also jihadis,” he says, referring to Abdullah’s vice-president running mates.

"Ashraf Ghani is not a jihadi. And for a jihadi to open a dialogue with a non-jihadi would be very difficult."
05:22 11.6.2014
05:50 11.6.2014
Some reactions to Gul's endorsement of Abdullah:

"khabar nadara ke karesh dega ham kharab mesha." In Dari, "he doesn't know that's he's hurting Abdullah's chances."
06:04 11.6.2014
Another endorsement for Abdullah

Reports that Abdullah has received another endorsement today. This time it is from the team of Qutbuddin Helal, a prominent member of the Hezb-e-Islami militant group.

Helal finished fifth in the first round race. He secured just below three percent of the national vote.
06:34 11.6.2014
Radio Free Afghanistan interview

Radio Free Afghanistan has an interview with Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman, Noor Mohammad, in Dari.

Mohammad calls on the two remaining candidates "not to break election rules" by campaiging during the two-day silence period, which starts tomorrow. He also urged the candidates to remain "cordial" and refrain from personal attacks.

In the first round, several candidates were reported and then fined by the IEC for breaking those rules.
06:48 11.6.2014
On the campaign trail

On the last day of campaigning, Abdullah is in Kabul. Ghani is on his way to the central province of Dai Kundi, where he fared poorly in the first round.
07:29 11.6.2014
On the streets of Kabul

Kabul streets clogged up. Tight security measures. I was stopped by police several times. Police conducted a body search and checked my press credentials.

Other journalists with similar experiences:

07:30 11.6.2014
07:52 11.6.2014
07:58 11.6.2014
New security measures in place in Kabul:

From my story yesterday, "Kabulis Ignore Security Warnings Ahead Of Election."

In an effort to keep Afghan civilians off the streets and out of harm's way, government schools, universities, and some state buildings have been closed down nationwide.

Security officials have urged Kabul residents to avoid busy areas and stay indoors, while hundreds of soldiers and police have started patrols, conducting body searches and vehicle inspections along the way.

And the government has also deployed additional security forces at election rallies and assigned more bodyguards for presidential hopefuls Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani.

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