Afghans begin second round of presidential election

In Afghanistan, people have begun going to the polls to choose a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai in the second round of the country’s presidential election.

On Saturday, Afghan voters began going to the polling stations around the country to choose between former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and economist Ashraf Ghani. Outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also cast his ballot.

Over 12 million people are registered to vote at some 6,365 polling stations across the country from 7 am local time. The ballots will be counted right after the polls close. Results are expected to be announced on July 2.

The voter turnout is expected to be less than it was during the first round of the vote on April 5, which saw a participation rate of over 50 percent.

The run-off election was necessary as none of the eight candidates in the first round received more than 50 percent of the votes required to win outright. During the first round, Abdullah secured 45 percent of the vote, while Ghani received 31.6 percent, after investigations into multiple fraud claims for both sides. Last week, Abdullah escaped an assassination attempt against him after a bomb explosion targeted his convoy as left a campaign rally in the capital, Kabul. Four people lost their lives in the blast and nearly 20 others were injured.

About 400,000 security forces are expected to be deployed across the country to provide security during the run-off election as the Taliban militants have threatened to disrupt the voting process.