Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 20, 2009

26 Killed During Afghan Election, Turnout Uncertain
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=261BB16:A6F02AD83191E16080F01D24E637970F0531BB26A5003E7B&
 
Among dead: 9 civilians, 9 police officers, 8 Afghan soldiers; ballots
now being counted 
A woman prepares to drop her ballot into the box, 20 August
2009Afghanistan has wrapped-up its high-stakes presidential election and
officials are calling it a success. But it is not clear how many people
participated and there are reports of voting irregularities. Afghan
officials said scattered violence killed at least 26 people across the
country. The dead included nine civilians, nine police officers and
eight Afghan soldiers. Attacks were reported in Kabul, Kandahar and
other major cities. But NATO officials said that overall, the election
was a security success. Election workers are now counting the votes, a
process that could take several days before initial results are known. 
In Kabul and in northern Afghanistan, voting was steady in some polling
centers throughout the day. In the south and east, where fears of
Taliban attacks were strongest, there were reports of very low
participation. A low voter turnout could damage the election's
credibility and undermine support for the winner. Presidential
candidates have accused one another of stuffing ballot boxes, printing
fake voter cards and tampering with the indelible ink that marks voters
fingers, thus allowing people to cast multiple ballots. Independent
election monitors have not yet weighed in on the allegations. In a field
of more than 30 presidential candidates, four are considered
frontrunners. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai's once comfortable lead
shrank as election day neared. Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah
is considered his closest challenger. Other leading candidates are
former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and Ramazan Bashardost, a popular
lawmaker from Kabul. Candidates must get more than 50 percent of the
vote to avoid a run-off. Voters Thursday also cast ballots for advisory
provincial councils. A massive security operation was put in place, with
hundreds of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police, and NATO and U.S.
troops, providing back!
 -up.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.


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