Summary Partial results are expected as soon as Sunday.
KABUL (AP) — Afghan polling stations have closed after nearly 10 hours of voting that saw a massive turnout, including in some of the most dangerous areas of the country.
Electoral workers wearing blue vests with the logo of the Independent Election Commission pulled the paper ballots out of boxes and carefully showed them in footage shown live on national television Saturday.
Partial results are expected as soon as Sunday.
Saturday s vote was a sharp contrast from Afghanistan s 2009 election, which was marred by widespread allegations of vote-rigging that tarnished President Hamid Karzai s re-election.
There were no reports of more serious attacks on an election that Taliban insurgents had vowed to derail, branding it a U.S.-backed sham, and many voters said they were determined to make their voices heard despite the threats.
Most people expect the election will be better run than the chaotic 2009 vote that handed the outgoing president, Hamid Karzai, a second term amid massive fraud and ballot stuffing.
The stronger the next president s mandate, the less vulnerable Afghanistan could be to instability. One major concern is that it could take several months for a winner to be declared at a time when the country desperately needs a leader to stem rising violence as foreign troops prepare to leave.
