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Afghanistan’s presidential polls closed yesterday amid fears that accusations of fraud and misconduct could overwhelm any election result, while insurgent attacks aimed at disrupting voting in the country’s north and south caused dozens of casualties.
An upsurge in violence in the run-up to the elections, following the collapse of talks between the United States and the Taliban to end America’s longest war, had already rattled Afghanistan in the past weeks. Yet, yesterday, many voters expressed equal fear and frustration over relentless government corruption and the widespread chaos at polling stations.
A deeply flawed election and contested result could drive the war-weary country into chaos.
Many Afghans found incomplete voters’ lists, unworkable biometric identification systems aimed at curbing fraud, and in some cases hostile election workers.
Ruhollah Nawroz, a representative of the Independent Complaints Commission tasked with monitoring the process, said the problems are countrywide. Nawroz said he arrived at a polling centre in the Taimani neighbourhood of Kabul, the capital, at 6am, and “hour by hour I was facing problems”.
Polls opened at 7am local time and closed at 5pm after the Independent Election Commission (IEC) extended polling by one hour.
Preliminary results won’t be out until October 17, with a final vote count on November 7. If no candidate wins 51 per cent of the vote, a second round will be held between the two leading candidates.
Voter Hajji Faqir Bohman, who was speaking on behalf of disgruntled voters at the Taimani polling centre, said the polling was so disorganised and flawed that even if his candidate wins “I will never believe that it was a fair election”.
The leading contenders are incumbent President Ashraf ■ people, about a third of them women, registered to vote Biometric machines aimed at preventing fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election performed better than in a poll last year, but still left voters waiting a long time to cast their ballots.
The machines were used for the first time in the October parliamentary poll, when many malfunctioned or failed to work altogether. Chaos during that vote was blamed on the machines’ performance, along with incomplete voting lists and delays in holding the election. Gani and his partner in the five-year-old unity government, Abdullah Abdullah, who already alleges power abuse by his opponent. Cameras crowded both men as they cast their vote earlier in Kabul, with Gani telling voters they too had a responsibility to call out instances of fraud.
A young woman, Shabnam Rezayee, was attacked by an election worker after insisting on seeing the voter’s list when ■ polling centres in Talibancontrolled areas remained closed she was told her name was not on the list. Rezayee said the worker hurled abuses at her, directing her insults at her ethnicity. She then punched and scratched her.
Sporadic turnout
When it ended and the attacker left, Rezayee found her name on the list and voted. “I am very strong,” she said.
In Kabul, turnout was sporadic and in the morning hours it was rare to see a crowded polling centre. Afghans who had patiently lined up before the voting centres were opened, entered in some locations to find that election officials had yet to arrive by opening time.
Imam Baksh, who works as a security guard, said he wasn’t worried about his safety as he stood waiting to mark his ballot, wondering whom he would vote for.