Amid accusations of fraud, Taliban attacks: Afghan presidential election completes

KABUL: Polls closed in the Afghan presidential election, the fourth since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, amid widespread complaints of irregularities and violence in parts of the country.

The accusations of fraud and misconduct threatened to overwhelm the results of vote, denying the winner legitimacy and frustrating efforts to restart peace talks to end the 18-year war. When polls closed Saturday, Afghan Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi said there had been 68 Taliban attacks across the country, most of them rockets fired from distant outposts. At least five people were killed, including one police, and scores more were injured, the international media reports. A polling station at a mosque in southern Kandahar was attacked injuring 15 people, including a police officer and several election officials, along with voters.

Three were in critical condition, officials said. In dozens of other places across the country Taliban fired rockets and mortars to frighten people away from voting. A surge in violence in the run-up to the elections, which following the collapse of US-Taliban talks to end America’s longest war, had already rattled Afghanistan in recent weeks. Yet on Saturday, for those who went to vote it was the process itself that drew the greatest criticism, threatening the country’s fragile battle against 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 were countrywide. Whether the problems were the fault of the government or the Independent Election Commission, Nawroz said Afghans will have trouble seeing the vote as free and fair.

Nawroz said he arrived at a polling center in the Taimani neighborhood of Kabul, the capital, at 6 a.m. and “hour by hour I was facing problems.”

Polls opened at 7 am local time and closed at 5 pm after the Independent Election Commission (IEC) extended polling by one hour.

Preliminary results won’t be out until Oct. 17, with a final vote count on Nov. 7. If no candidate wins 51 percent of the vote, a second round will be held between the two leading candidates.

In Kabul, turnout was sporadic and in the morning hours it was rare to see a crowded polling center. Afghans who had patiently lined up before voting centers were opened, in some locations found that election officials had yet to arrive by opening time.

Low turnout: Voter turnout was low in certain parts of Afghanistan amid lingering concerns over security threats and logistical challenges.

"In the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, the turnout was low in the morning, until at least 10am.

In the districts, there are also fewer people than in previous elections," Nabiullah Baz, a member of parliament from the district of Chapliyar, said.

"As the hours passed, I started to see more mobilisation among the people – hopefully, as the day goes on, more people will come out especially, as the heat starts to settle."

Obaid Ali, a Kabul-based analyst at Afghanistan Analysts Network, who visited several different voting sites in Takhar, said voting was relatively low in the Northern Province.

"In all of the polling centres I went to, the turnout has been extremely low. Even when compared to the parliamentary elections in [October] 2018". Low turnout was also reported in Herat province.