Afghan vote is peaceful but draws loud protests
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- In schools and mosques, wearing suits and burkas, Afghans voted yesterday in the first presidential election, and did not suffer the widespread violence that officials had feared. But the ballot was thrown into doubt when candidates challenging interim President Hamid Karzai called the results invalid after many stations used the wrong ink to mark voters' thumbs.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's first direct presidential election was thrust into turmoil hours after it started Saturday when all 15 candidates challenging interim leader Hamid Karzai alleged fraud over the ink meant to ensure people voted only once and vowed to boycott the results.    But electoral officials rejected their demand that the vote be called off, saying an apparent mix-up with the ink was not severe enough to halt the historic vote...
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On Saturday, Afghans will vote for the first time in a presidential election that could advance the cause of democracy, or just as easily provoke widespread disillusionment.
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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.
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Afghan officials delayed counting ballots in a historic presidential election on Monday to deal with complaints of fraud, but several of the candidates appeared to be pulling back from an initial decision to boycott the vote.
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HERAT, Afghanistan  - The western Afghan city of  Herat was calm Monday following bloody clashes between  supporters of the powerful ousted governor and U.S. and Afghan  forces sent to keep the peace.
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Election officials in Afghanistan  collected ballots on Sunday from a historic presidential vote  which started enthusiastically but ended in turmoil after most  of the candidates announced a boycott.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Vote counting in Afghanistan's presidential election got under way Thursday, five days after a landmark vote meant to cement a new era of stability after more than two decades of strife.    A top election official said about three-quarters of the 10.5 milion Afghans who registered for the election turned out to vote - despite threats of violence...
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The mere fact of tomorrow&#39;s presidential elections in Afghanistan is cause for (subdued) celebration. Afghans are headed to the polls in the country&#39;s first-ever &quot;democratic&quot; election, and early indications
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Afghanistan&#39;s presidential elections came off with little violence but some damaging controversy. President Hamid Karzai&#39;s 15 opponents charged vote fraud.
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The campaign for Afghanistan's landmark  presidential election has been marred by intimidation and  official partiality, the United Nations said on Sunday, but it  expects this week's vote to be relatively free and fair.
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Protests erupted Sunday after electoral officials announced that the incumbent won Thursday's vote.
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Ballots are being counted in Afghanistan, after delays created by irregularities in Saturday's elections.
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Afghan children and U.S. soldiers were  among six people reported killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, a  week after millions voted in a landmark election they hope will  bring peace back to their war-ravaged nation.
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Hundreds of people rallied across war-scarred Afghanistan Friday to call for an end to violence on the United Nations&#39; Day of Peace, as fighting linked to a Taliban-led insurgency continued.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Campaigning for Afghanistan's first direct presidential election ended with a burst of violence Wednesday as attackers set off a bomb in a failed effort to kill interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running-mate.    Despite persistent violence, the United Nations declared this hard-luck nation ready for Saturday's vote, a historic experiment with democracy after more than two decades of unrelenting ruin, from Soviet occupation to civil war to the repressive Taliban and the thunderous U.S...
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After decades of rule by the bullet instead of the ballot box, war-weary Afghans could not hide their delight as they got the chance to vote in elections they hope will end years of conflict.