In Afghanistan's rugged Panjshir Valley, this is how elections are done.

Donkeys...to deliver ballots and voting boxes to the country's most inaccessible areas.

One the eve of election day - they're choosing a new president on Saturday - some 3,000 donkeys are being deployed across the country.

These men volunteered their own donkeys for the job.

Saturday's election is the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's violent history.

The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the vote with a campaign of bombing and assassinations.

The men have a long journey ahead of them.

Like their country, on its long road towards democracy.