Kabul-based Maysam Najafizada describes how Afghanistan’s second presidential election is unfolding in Kabul. On the day of the presidential elections in Afghanistan, Kabul city was quiet early in the morning, around 6:00 a.m. local time. There were very few cars on the streets and tight security all around. Vehicles were checked every three to four kilometres in various districts of Kabul. The security of the central Shahr-e Naw and Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul was particularly tight, and only a handful of locals dared to roam about. Journalists, however, ventured out to polling stations in central parts of Kabul to see how the start of the voting process would be.

Earlier on in the day, voter turnout was low. But slowly, groups of people were seen heading to polling stations in various parts of Kabul. In the fifth district of the city – the mountainous Afshar region – both men and women queuing up to cast their votes as early as 7:30 in the morning.

Coming out of the Jaghori-ha Mosque polling station, Ghulam Sarwar Hasanzada said he was proud to vote for the second presidential elections and hoped to see a change. He added that he tried to clean his finger to make sure the ink could be removed, but he could not do so. Strangely enough, the indelible ballot ink is proving quite the annoyance for many Afghans.

But Kabulis arriving at polling stations had bigger problems than ink stains on their thumbs. Although the Jaghori-ha poll was open, three of the four booths installed there were not working because of technical problems with the card punch system. Mumtaz Ahmad, the head of the polling centre, explained, ‘We are having technical problems with the punch. We have contacted our district focal center and reported our problem, but we have not received any response yet.’

Interestingly, in an effort to make the voting as inclusive as possible, the Afghan election authorities are willing to improvise. About half an hour after Ahmad registered the complaint, the polling centre he was overseeing was authorised to cut off the edges of voting cards with scissors. The goal: to make the three other voting stations operative as soon as possible, thereby reducing the waiting time for voters.

Meanwhile, Hamid Karzai appeared in a school near the presidential palace and encouraged the Afghan people to vote for the future of their country. ‘I request my dear countrymen to come out and cast their vote to decide their future,’ he said. ‘God willing, this will be for peace, for progress, and for the well-being of the Afghan people. Vote, No violence.’

In another polling station, Dr Abdullah Abdullah – Karzai’s main challenger – appeared to cast his vote with his wife. This is the first time that an Afghan presidential candidate is voting along with his wife. Dr Abdullah and his wife entered the polling station holding hands with their son, Sultan. Journalists thronging the polling center were quick to ask the presidential candidate why he had brought his son, but not his daughters, to the polling station. Dr Abdullah was quick to respond: ‘I have brought my son to give him the impression of democracy and voting for the presidency in our country and I haven’t brought my daughters because they were not at home.’

Wearing an Iranian-style scarf, a green coat and black pants, Dr Abdullah’s wife came up with a more politic response: ‘Women make up 50 per cent of Afghan society and [my presence] is to give a message to Afghan women to take part in the elections.’

Outside the polling station, people were again fretting about the ink stains on their thumbs. One man was showing off a finger that was partially cleaned after he had cast his vote. ‘The ink can be cleaned with Gulrang [an Iranian bleach],” said Sher Alam, brandishing his finger and reassuring others, even though lines of the dark brown ink could be seen on the edge of his finger.

One of Dr Abdullah’s body guards chose to address the public’s concerns about the voting ink, and was seen holding a bottle of Gulrang bleach outside a polling centre. He was showing the bottle to voters and journalists, telling them that the bleach liquid could clean the indelible ink from voters’ fingers.

Overall, despite a slow beginning to Afghanistan’s historic second election – along with sporadic violence and widespread concerns about ink-stained fingers – the number of people participating has been slowly increasing all day. Even now, polling stations in Kabul and the northern and eastern provinces are abuzz with voters.

Return to The Dawn Blog for a follow-up on the Afghan election.

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