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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
14:36 12.6.2014
14:37 12.6.2014
14:38 12.6.2014
15:15 12.6.2014
Abdullah Abdullah's campaign has hired a U.S.-based PR firm, according to this document published on the U.S. Department of Justice's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) website.

In a May 19 letter contained in the document, a partner for Sanitas International Inc. writes that the firm is "honored to support a 'Free and Fair' advocacy campaign in Afghanistan on behalf of Abdullah Abdullah during the 2014 Presidential elections."

The document indicates that the request to hire Sanitas was signed on June 1, and received by FARA's registration unit on the morning of June 9.
16:13 12.6.2014
16:14 12.6.2014
This concludes our live-blogging for Thursday, June 12. We will be back first thing in the morning (Kabul time)!
03:18 13.6.2014
Weclome back to our coverage of the run-off election in Afghanistan. Only 24 hours to go before polls open.
03:28 13.6.2014

Outgoing President

In a televised address to the nation last night, President Hamid Karzai urged all eligible voters to cast their ballots. This is some of what he had to say:

03:37 13.6.2014
Afghan Voters Left With Images of Negative Campaigning

What will voters have on their minds when they go to cast their votes? We write that while the campaign might be over, the evidence of mudslinging remains:

Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani took the low road as the Afghan presidential campaign wound down, with their teams and supporters engaging in petty name-calling, and exchanging personal insults and threats.

They also got some final, and lasting, words in, despite a two-day "silence period" under which candidates are barred from campaigning ahead of the June 14 vote.

A number of negative posters and billboards were placed around Kabul ahead of the ban, as smears emerged on social media, ensuring that voters would have something to think about as they head to polling stations.



03:48 13.6.2014
Abdullah Interview

Abdullah spoke with the Atlantic Council last night via Skype. You can see the whole interview here:

There is also a Storifyed version:

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