Posted on 10/09/2004 1:59:27 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghans voted Saturday in a historic poll that aimed to give the mountainous and impoverished Islamic nation its first elected president and perhaps end over a quarter-century of war.
There were only scattered reports of violence despite widespread fears of attacks by the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban militants, who have vowed to sabotage what they call a U.S.-orchestrated sham.
Some injuries were reported but no deaths.
By midday, the main election-related problem stemmed from workers using the wrong pen to mark people's fingers after they voted. The ink was not indelible and could be washed off, leading to an uproar among several candidates concerned about possible multiple voting.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and are to close at 4 p.m. (1130 GMT) The focus is on how many people vote in defiance of the Taliban and whether the U.S.-backed favorite, President Hamid Karzai, can get the 51 percent win he needs to avoid a November runoff.
"It is not important who wins," the 46-year-old Karzai said after casting his vote at a special poll booth in the prime minister's office for senior government officials.
"It is important that the people are choosing their destiny and eventually if I win or any other one, the victory will be of the Afghan people and we (need) to accept that."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
c'mon everyone! let's chalk one up to democracy!
if there are no deaths (so far) and their biggest problem is possible multiple voting, i say this has gone off without a hitch!
And this is BIG. Especially for W.
If it comes off well, it proves the the current course is the correct one, and lays waste to the claim of the left that democracy can not work in the middle east.
ya damn right!
"No deaths" --- Sounds like a solid win for Democracy -- especially with approx. 40%(?) of registered voters being women.
Great day -- now on to Australia--
This is great!
Did you guys read the article earlier today about the Afghan women who were murdered because they had registered to vote, and that spurred hundreds of Afghan women to register? Brought tears to my eyes!
Indeed, score one for democracy!
You've gotta be kidding me! If these people registered to vote, there's obviously a list of them. When they show up at their polling place and vote, just check them off the list and have them sign in! Who came up with the idea of marking their fingers with ink? This is CRA-ZY! But if it turns out to be their biggest problem, that's saying a lot about how far Afghanistan has come from the days of the Taliban.
ah, the power of democracy! gotta love the free world!
This is a horrendous day for the leftist Kerry, EU, Russia, China, UN crowd joined by the kill all Muslims facist right crowd on FR.
Gosh united they couldn't even destroy democratic elections for a free, democratic Afghanistan.
very nice! i like how you even acknowledged the extremists here in our own backyard. seriously, very necessary and very noteworthy. great post! :)
Go easy on them. This is much better than the old system. Under the Taliban, they would cut the finger off, to ensure that no one tried to vote again (ever). ;^)
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