Participation in the presidential elections in Afghanistan is estimated unofficially at just over two million people or about 20 percent of registered voters, an official said Sunday, amid concerns that low participation could spoil the vote. .
Approximately seven million came to vote in the last presidential elections of 2014.
Strict security ensured that the elections were held on Saturday with relative calm, but low participation and complaints about the voting system raised concerns that an unclear result could lead the war-torn country to greater chaos. .
"The participation seems to have been buffered not only by the Taliban's threats, but also by the disinterest of the voters," wrote Thomas Ruttig and Jelena Bjelica of the Afghanistan Analyst Network.
Afghan Taliban fighters attacked several polling stations across the country to try to derail the process, but intense security prevented large-scale violence.
There were more than 400 attacks, mostly on a small scale, carried out by militants, according to the Afghanistan Analyst Network.
There were also technical deficiencies, they wrote, including non-functioning biometric devices, missing voter names and electoral material sent to the wrong province.
However, many Afghans challenged the threat of militant attacks to vote in an election seen as an important test of the ability of the West-backed government to protect democracy against attempts by the Afghan Taliban to derail it.
About eight electoral staff members were kidnapped on Saturday night by the Afghan Taliban in the Shinwari district of central Parwan province, the provincial governor's spokeswoman said.
"The local government and tribal elders are working to free them," he said Sunday.
Two policemen and a civilian were killed in Taliban attacks mostly on a small scale, and 37 people were injured, the interior ministry said.
Of 9.67 million registered voters, only one in five cast their vote, according to the election commission official who requested anonymity, since they were not authorized to publish a participation figure.
The previous elections were marred by dozens of deaths, accusations of fraud and accusations that the electoral commission was not independent. Memories of those issues were pending during Saturday's vote.
The days after the vote are also charged. Afghan Taliban often attack those who transport ballot boxes from local polling stations to the largest regional offices to count. From there, the boxes go to the capital Kabul.
No preliminary results are expected before October 19 and final results until November 7.
If no candidate obtains more than half of the votes, a second round will take place between the two main candidates.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1508029/unofficial-estimates-show-big-drop-in-voter-numbers-in-afghan-election