Violence and turnout both low as Afghans go to polls
KABUL, Afghanistan — Voters in Afghanistan’s presidential election faced less violence from Taliban insurgents than expected but also turned out Saturday in far fewer numbers than officials had hoped, suggesting the winner will enter office with a weak mandate to lead the struggling democracy and possibly launch peace talks with the Taliban.
Initial results of the race — whose main contenders were President Ashraf Ghani and his government’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah — will not be announced until Oct. 17. The final results are not expected until early November.
Ne i t h e r candidate claimed victory, although Ghani has been predicted to win with more than 50% of the vote.
In a brief live address, Ghani thanked the voters for their “passion for democracy” and called on the Taliban to “honor the people’s demand for peace ... the door to negotiation is open.”
The election was the fourth presidential contest since the end of Taliban rule in 2001.
The insurgents, who had denounced the election as a sham and vowed to violently disrupt the polls, claimed they carried out 300 attacks during the voting. But officials reported only a handful of serious attacks, including a suicide bombing in southern Kandahar province that injured 16 people and an explosion in eastern Nangahar province that left two dead. The Associated Press reported at least five deaths.
There were numerous reports of relatively minor violent incidents, mostly small bomb blasts near polling sites.
But while the election was more peaceful than anticipated, the low turnout nationwide came as a shock to the government and both major candidates, who had crisscrossed the country by air to stage campaign rallies under insurgent threat.
Election monitoring groups, gathering reports from officials across the country, estimated that fewer than 2.5 million voters, out of 9.6 million who had registered, came to the polls. They attributed the low numbers to fear of Taliban attack, concerns about fraud and skepticism that holding the election would help bring peace after 18 years of conflict.
“Under election law, a low turnout does not make the results less legitimate, but, of course, there will be worries about fairness and participation,” said Yousuf Rasheed, executive director of the Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan. “Turnout was not just an issue in some places, but everywhere.”
The government deployed more than 70,000 security forces to guard the election and shuttered 2,400 of about 7,400 polling centers. The capital was blanketed by police, and security cordons were set up around each polling place, sometimes several blocks away. Many streets were blocked by cargo or police trucks, and security personnel searched passing vehicles, as well as all voters who approached the polling places on foot.
Ghani, 70, cast his ballot soon after the polls opened, at a fortified high school near his palace. His wife Rula and his top runningmate, Amrullah Saleh, voted there with him.
The election, which had been delayed twice, came weeks after negotiations collapsed between U.S. and Taliban leaders. It was seen by the Ghani administration and by some voters as a key step toward beginning peace talks with the Taliban, which has been waging an especially aggressive and violent campaign in recent months.
“This is a historic chance for the country that won’t come again,” said Abdul Mohammed Abdali, 25, a business student, after he emerged from voting at a Kabul high school with his forefinger dipped in purple ink. “It is time for Afghans to sit down together and stop killing each other.”
Few voters Saturday expressed concerns about fraud, although Abdullah and other opponents had claimed that Ghani would attempt to rig the vote by paying off local officials and other abuses of power.