KABUL — Thousands of polling centers across Afghanistan opened for voting today, and millions of Afghans were expected to choose a new president to lead a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government.
Turnout, particularly in the violent south, will be key to the success of the vote, the country’s second direct presidential election.
Taliban militants have pledged to disrupt the vote and have circulated threats that those who cast ballots will be punished.
Early indications in Kabul pointed to a low initial turnout, perhaps as people assessed whether casting ballots was safe. An Associated Press reporter who visited six polling centers in the capital said he saw no lines at any of them.
“Yes, we are going to vote,” Abdul Rahman, 35, said as he stood 50 yards outside a polling center in Kabul. He and his friends were waiting to see a line of people go inside and vote safely before casting ballots. “If anything happens to the polling center, we don’t want to be too close to it.”
Helicopters circled overhead in the capital as police manned extra checkpoints. In one northern Kabul neighborhood, a car with loudspeakers encouraged people to vote.
Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban was ousted eight years ago, is favored to finish first among 36 official candidates, although a late surge by former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah could force a runoff if no one wins more than 50 percent.
Karzai dipped a finger in indelible ink — a fraud-prevention measure — and held it up for the cameras after he cast his ballot.
“I request from the Afghan people to come out and vote so through their vote Afghanistan will be more secure, more peaceful,” Karzai said. “Vote. No violence.”
Preliminary results were expected to be announced Saturday Kabul time.
Violence has risen sharply in Afghanistan the past three years, and the U.S. now has more than 60,000 forces in the country nearly eight years after the U.S. invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001.
On the eve of the balloting, the U.S. military announced the deaths of six more Americans — putting August on track to become the deadliest month for American forces since the war began.
