Elections in Afghanistan: 4 million votes, despite violence and technical problems

In the past 48 hours, voters in 32 of the country's 34 provinces voted. The southern province of Kandahar is likely to go to the polls next week after the Taliban-claimed attack that killed their powerful police chief, General Abdul Raziq, two days before the elections.

Voting in Ghazni province in the east of the country was also delayed due to security and logistics issues. No timetable has been announced for the postponement of the vote in Ghazni.

The election also saw an unprecedented number of youths vying for the 250 seats in the lower house of parliament, known as Wolesi Jirga.

In an address to the nation shortly after the polls closed on Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani thanked the Afghan people for the important participation despite the security risks that have resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries throughout the country. country.

"By voting, you have made it clear to the world that you do not want violence, you have demonstrated your determination through democracy, you have proved to the Taliban that this nation will not surrender to anyone," he said. declared.

The president also sent a message to the voters of the country, who came in large numbers.

"I thank these women and their families, their participation is a historic success for Afghan democracy and an excellent start for the new generation, and I hope you will participate in the presidential election on such a large scale."

Electoral Violence

Seventeen civilians, ten police officers and an army officer were killed, said Afghan Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak, adding that at least 192 incidents had also caused dozens of wounded.

A suicide bombing was carried out in a polling station in Kabul, the capital, said police chief Basir Mojahid's spokesman. The attacker was identified and blew up his bomb before reaching the station, he said. The death toll was not immediately known.

After voting Saturday, Ghani thanked the security forces, the election officials and the citizens who made the election possible, "despite the risks involved".

"Today we have together proven that we are defending democracy, and by voting unscrupulously, we honor the sacrifices of fallen soldiers," he tweeted.

The Taliban had warned Afghans before the vote not to participate in what they called "an end-to-end American project".

It is not yet known to what extent the logistical problems of many polling stations will affect participation rates, but the CEI announced the opening of 401 polling stations on Sunday, including 45 in Kabul, due to technical problems and shortage of staff.

The vote in Kandahar was delayed one week after Raziq's death.

"It's a process that has failed"

IRC deputy spokeswoman Shaima Alam Soroush told reporters in Kabul that efforts were being made to address delays in opening some of the sites and polling centers.

A campaign manager, Israr Karimzai, told CNN that he had "20 reports in different centers of the country where people are denied the right to vote" because "no ballot, no biometric device or no IEC staff member did not show up "during the ballot. stations.

A candidate in Kabul told CNN that she had been waiting for more than an hour to vote.

"It's a process that has failed," said Mariam Solaimankhil.

Idrees Stanikzai, also in Kabul, told CNN that voters were still complaining about waiting to open their polls more than two hours after their arrival.

Maidan Wardak Provincial Council Chairman Sharifullah Hotak told Afghan local television channel Shamshad that the biometric system at polling centers was not working across the province.

And in Herat, hundreds of people were queuing because polling stations also had technical problems.

More than 20,000 polling stations have been opened throughout the country, with the exception of Kandahar and Ghazni provinces, where the vote will take place at a later date, the Afghan Ministry spokesman said earlier. of the Interior, Najib Danesh.

Some 70,000 members of the Afghan forces have been deployed to ensure the security of the elections, he said.

Women and young people run for office

The risks have not deterred more than 2,500 candidates across the country, including more than 400 women, from running for 250 seats in the Wolesi Jirga, Afghanistan's lower house of parliament.

Maryam Samaa, a 26-year-old journalist and news anchor for the country's largest private broadcaster, TOLO TV, felt compelled to stand up, she told CNN. She is a candidate for one of Kabul's 33 parliamentary seats.

"It's a responsibility that every human being must assume," she said. "Everyone has to question the society around them: why are there so many inequalities and what is my role in reforming this society?"

Like many other young candidates, Samaa said that she had decided to run because there were few "real representatives of the people" in the current parliament. Instead of the people's house, said Samaa, Parliament has become the home of "mafia networks" competitors.

According to a survey conducted this year by the Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies, an independent research institute based in Kabul, only 9.6 percent of respondents were satisfied with the work of the current parliament.