Voting ends in Afghan parliamentary elections (Evening Lead)

KABUL - Voting ended Saturday afternoon in Afghanistan’s parliamentary election, the second in the country’s recent history.

“All polling stations officially closed at 4 p.m. (1130 GMT),” said Noor Mohammad, spokesman for the Independent Election Commission. He said people still queuing up would be able to cast their ballots after the deadline.

Election officials said most of the more than 5,000 polling stations across the country were open but at least 153 stayed closed because of security concerns.

Taliban militants conducted dozens of attacks, but security officials said the insurgents failed to disrupt the vote.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0230 GMT).

President Hamid Karzai, who opened the Amani High School voting station in Kabul by casting his ballot, urged Afghans to brave the attacks and come out and vote.

“As in every election we do hope that there will be high voter turnout and nobody is deterred by security incidents of which I am sure there will be some,” he said.

Security forces were on high alert as around 63,000 soldiers and 52,000 police have been deployed to country’s 34 provinces to provide security for the polling sites.

Security officials assured people that it was safe to come out and vote.

“Saying security is guaranteed is a big word,” Staffan de Mistura, the top UN envoy to the country said Saturday. “Many precautions have been taken place, never there have been so many precautions as today, but security remains a major concern.”

Saturday’s vote is seen as the latest effort in a US-led process to bring democracy to the country following last year’s presidential election, which was marred by violence and massive fraud.

About 150,000 US and NATO troops are trying to implement a counter-insurgency strategy aimed at turning the tide of nearly nine years of war against the insurgents.

The vote is also a big test of credibility for Karzai, who was re-elected in last year’s fraud-scarred elections.

Candidates and independent observers warned that a repeat of fraud was possible as fake voting cards were sold across the country prior the elections. Millions of phony cards were said to have been printed in Pakistan.

Police seized dozens of fake voter registration cards and allegations of fraud, including ballot-stuffing by electoral workers in favours of certain candidates, and underage voting reported across Afghanistan Saturday.

More than 2,500 candidates are vying for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga. Among them are a total of 406 women contesting for 68 seats allocated for them by the country’s post-Taliban constitution.

The initial results of the vote were expected by early next month, while the final verified results were due to be announced around the end of October.

Election officials said final results could be delayed because a UN-backed complaint commission is expected to look into thousands of allegations of fraud and complaints, mainly from losing candidates.