Afghanistan votes in second round of presidential elections

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/14/afghanistan-votes-election-taliban-threat

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Afghans cast their final ballots for a new president this weekend, on a day without major Taliban attacks but also without the heady enthusiasm that accompanied the first round of voting.

The police and army managed to keep major cities mostly calm, despite insurgent threats to target anyone taking part in an election that paves the way for Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power. The incumbent Hamid Karzai was barred by the constitution from standing again.

The Taliban sent suicide bombers into Kandahar but none reached a polling station. Early morning rockets in Kabul apparently did no damage to the city or people's voting intentions. In rural areas casting a ballot was far more risky.

Overall at least 16 police and soldiers and 20 civilians were killed, Reuters quoted the interior ministry saying. "Despite more security incidents, rocket attacks, roadside bombs, people still showed up in the most difficult areas, we also saw women in areas we did not expect," said Nader Naderi, head of the Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA), an independent monitor.

Authorities said turnout matched levels in the first round – around 7 million. In some parts of the capital ballots papers had run out before midday, and angry voters petitioned election authorities, visiting journalists and anyone with an official identity card for help.

"We had this problem in the first round and thought it was a mistake, but this time round what should we think?" said Samiuddin Samir, a 28-year-old civil servant at a high school, where voting papers were all used up before 11am. But enthusiasm was not uniform. In some areas where two months ago snaking lines of people stood for hours in the rain, there were no queues and hundreds of ballots went unused.

Voter turnout is critical because fewer voters gives fraudulent ballots a greater weight. If the hard-fought race ends in a close finish, it may also make it easier for the loser to challenge the results or the legitimacy of the entire vote.

Facing off are former mujahideen doctor Abdullah Abdullah and World Bank technocrat Ashraf Ghani. Both are modernising nationalists who have teamed up with civil war-era strongmen, a bid to broaden their support base that may also have alienated young voters seeking change.

"Last round I tried to vote but it was very crowded and ballot papers ran out," said 23-year-old Waisuddin Amiri, an unemployed graduate who on Saturday just wandered in to vote with no delay. "I'm not worried about security, this is my chance to choose the person who will serve the country."

Fraud remained a major concern after hundreds of thousands of votes were thrown out in April. Both candidates beefed up their teams of observers, and on Saturday in Kabul they were actively weeding out an underage girl trying to vote with a fake identity card, and stopping election organisers ignoring official paperwork for personal notebooks.

Afghans are now hoping for a fast and relatively clean result, though the election will not be formally settled until July 22, to allow time to sift through claims of vote rigging and collect ballots from the remotest areas.

Afghanistan can ill afford further delay in an election that has dragged on for months. Political uncertainty is undermining an already feeble economy, and a deal to keep foreign troops in the country supporting the still-developing Afghan army hinges on a new leader coming to power because Karzai has said he will not sign it.

"It's been an eight-month campaign, the fact that Afghans still turned out is a sign of their determination to stick with the process," said Saad Mohseni, owner of the influential Tolo Television station, which organised debates between the presidential candidates.