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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
03:23 14.6.2014
Outgoing President Hamid Karzai Votes

03:29 14.6.2014
This election will mark the first democratic transition of power in Afghanistan's history. Karzai is the first Afghan president to vote for his successor
04:14 14.6.2014
Ashraf Ghani Votes
04:18 14.6.2014
Early Signs

Promising signs of another high turnout in the runoff, at least in Kabul.
04:24 14.6.2014
Media Waiting For Abdullah

Abdullah will be casting his ballot at the Lycée Esteqlal High School in Kabul.
04:35 14.6.2014
My Vote
04:41 14.6.2014
Abdullah Votes

Abdullah and his two vice-president running mates, Mohammad Mohaqeq and Mohammad Khan, cast their ballots.
04:57 14.6.2014
EU Election Monitoring Team

I happened to see Han Peters at a polling station in Kabul this morning. Peters is part of a 66-member EU delegation in Afghanistan to monitor today's election.


05:06 14.6.2014
05:07 14.6.2014
With voting under way, here's our newsroom's summary of some of this morning's events:
Afghan voters were forming long lines at polling stations in Kabul despite reports of three explosions on the north side of the Afghan capital and one on the west side just before polls opened in the presidential runoff.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi confirmed that at least one rocket landed to the south of Kabul's international airport.

He also confirmed the explosion of what he described as a "magnetic bomb" in western Kabul, just before voters began to cast their ballots across Afghanistan.

But Siddiqi said there were no casualties and the blasts had not interrupted the work of election officials.

He did not comment on the proximity of the explosions to any polling stations.

The Taliban has threatened to attack voters on June 14, warning in a statement that Afghans should “remain far away from the polling stations… lest you should be hurt or killed.”

Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah is facing off against ex-World Bank economist and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani in a vote that will determine who replaces the outgoing President Hamid Karzai.

The results are expected to be announced on July 22.

Karzai, after casting his ballot at the Amani High School polling station outside of the presidential palace in Kabul, told reporters that the election shows that Afghanistan is taking a “strong step towards stability and peace.”

Referring to the planned withdrawal of U.S. and NATO-led forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Karzai said Afghans are taking control of their “own destiny” and bringing an “an end to the need for foreigners.”

The outgoing president said: “The gathering of people at polling stations and the voting will lead the country towards better stability, better governance, and a better life.”

Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, the head of the Afghan Independent Election Commission sought to reassure voters and observers that the organizers will ensure that the electoral process will deliver a legitimate winner.

After casting his ballot in Kabul, Nurstani said his commission has no tolerance for fraud and will submit the names of election staff to legal authorities if they are suspected of favoring any candidate.

Abdullah is considered the front-runner after leading in the first round of the election, conducted on April 5, with 45 percent of the vote.

Ghani finished second in the April 5 ballot with 31.6 percent of the vote.

A total of 50 percent or more was needed for a single candidate to win the presidency in the first round.

Whoever wins the most votes in the June 14 runoff vote will be declared as Afghanistan's next president, with a term set for five years.

Under Afghanistan's post-Taliban constitution, nobody can be elected to the presidency for more than two five-year terms.

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