If all goes according to plan on April 5, Afghanistan will hold its third presidential and provincial council elections since the fall of the Taliban.
Elections are important in any country, but this one may mark the first peaceful democratic transfer of power from one Afghan leader to another. Hamid Karzai, who has led the country for eight years, is barred by the nation's constitution from running for a third time. He will be replaced by one of nine remaining candidates, only three of whom are considered favorites.
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Abdullah Abdullah, who placed second behind Karzai in Afghanistan's presidential election in 2009, is a frontrunner this year. The other two in the group of favorites are Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Zalmai Rassoul.
Ahmadzai is a former World Bank official who has aligned himself with popular but controversial former militia commander Abdul Rashid Dostum. Rassoul, the only candidate with a female running mate, has strong ties to Karzai — making some concerned that his election would give the current president too much behind-the-scenes power.
The Taliban's impact on the election is also a cause for concern. The organization has called the vote an "American conspiracy" and have vowed to do whatever possible to disrupt the process.
Election results aren't expected until mid-May — more than a month later — because it will take considerable time to count votes from polling stations not close to major cities. To win, a candidate must take home more than 50% of the vote, which is unlikely in a race with nine people. Therefore, the country will likely have a runoff between the top two candidates, which could take at least an additional six weeks.
Out of the 32 million people living in Afghanistan, only 12 million are eligible to cast ballots because so much of the Afghan population is below the voting age of 18. Still, many are already lining up to register, and plenty have also attended rallies for their favorite candidate(s). Afghan women were granted the constitutional right to vote after the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
Afghan men line up to register for the upcoming presidential election outside a school on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan on March 19, 2014.
Afghan women wait next to a window with stickers displayed urging people to get their election registration cards.
Female supporters of Afghan vice presidential candidate Habiba Sarabi and Afghan presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul hold flags with Rassoul's photo during a campaign rally in Kabul on March 17.
Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate and former Mujahideen leader/hardline Islamist Abdul Rasul Sayyaf record footage on their mobile phones during an election rally in the Shakardara district of Kabul province on March 14.
Afghan residents wait in line inside a voter registration center in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 18. Last-minute registration of voters continues even though more than 21 million voter registration cards have been issued while only roughly 12 million Afghans are eligible to vote.
Afghan women push to enter a room to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election at a school in Kabul.
An Afghan woman poses for an identification photograph at a women's voter registration center in Kabul on March 17.
An Afghan resident marks a page with her thumb print as she registers to vote at a registration center in Mazar-i-Sharif.
An Afghan photographer prepares images of women for identification purposes at a women's voter registration center in Kabul. Nine Afghan presidential candidates are campaigning in the presidential election slated for April 5.
Afghan women line up to have their pictures taken to register to vote in the upcoming presidential elections at a school in Kabul.
Afghan men wait outside a school to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Afghan supporters of presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai gesture with banners and placards ahead of his speech at a gathering in the outskirts of Kunduz province, North of Kabul, on March 19. Afghanistan's April 5 election is the third presidential poll since the fall of the Taliban.
A female supporter of Afghan vice presidential candidate Habiba Sarabi holds a flag with her photo during a campaign rally in Kabul on March 17. Sarabi’s presence on the ticket points to how candidates and activists are taking unprecedented measures to get out the women's vote.
Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul hold flags with a photo of him and his two vice presidential candidates during a campaign rally in Kabul. Writing on the flags read, "Vote for Zalmai Rassoul."
Afghan men line up to register for the upcoming presidential election in a school on the outskirts of Kabul.
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