Afghan elections hailed despite turnout
Afghan and international officials hailed yesterday's elections as a major success, but chief electoral officer Peter Erben said turnout appeared to be just over 50%, based on reports from about one-third of polling stations.
Barring a big increase, this would be significantly lower than the 70% for Hamid Karzai's victory in last October's euphoric presidential election. More than 8 million people voted then, even though the number of registered voters was lower than the 12.4 million eligible to cast ballots for the first new legislature in more than three decades.
No matter what the turnout, many voters were enthusiastic.
That pleased the government and its Western backers, who hailed the elections as a show of determination to entrench democracy and defiance in the face of Taliban threats.
"Afghanistan should be satisfied with the turnout in yesterday's election," said Mr Erben, chief electoral officer of the Afghan-UN body conducting the vote.
He said it compared well with elections in other post-war countries, adding there was no evidence of major irregularities.
In a preliminary report, an EU observer mission gave the polls a positive review but said vote secrecy was not always maintained.
It said shortcomings during the campaign included intimidation, intervention by officials, inadequate voter lists and "deplorable" killings of candidates and election workers.
US President George Bush congratulated the Afghan people "for showing up at the polls and defying the Taliban and those who threaten their lives".
Karzai has praised voters for coming out "in spite of the terrorism, in spite of the threats".
Taliban rebels had urged Afghans to boycott the election the last formal step toward democracy under a plan laid out after the ousting of the hard-line Islamic group by US-led forces in 2001.
Counting will start today.
