Turnout in Afghan vote could be more than seven million

Afghans flocked to polling stations, defying a threat of violence by the Taliban to cast ballots in what promises to be the nation’s first democratic transfer of power.

An Afghan man casts his vote at a polling station in Jalalabad, east of Kabul on April 5. Rahmat Gul / AP

KABUL // The turnout for Afghanistan’s presidential election on Saturday could exceed seven million, the head of the Independent Election Commission said — more than half of eligible voters.

Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani said that an estimated 3.5 million people had voted by midday, five hours after polls opened, 64 per cent of them men and 36 per cent women.

“This figure may have increased to more than seven million by 5:00pm,” he told a news conference. Polls officially closed at 5:00pm.

Around 13.5 million people were eligible to vote, putting the estimated turnout above 50 per cent — a significant increase on 2009 when only around a third of voters cast ballots.

There had been fears that another low turnout would have undermined the legitimacy of whoever succeeds Karzai, who is stepping down after serving the maximum two

* Agence France-Presse