Afghans vote peacefully

KABUL, Afghanistan — Millions of enthusiastic Afghans stood in line and voted — without any large-scale attacks that many had feared — as the nation chose its first-ever directly elected leader.

But the vote was marred by a boycott by most of the candidates opposed to the front-runner, President Hamid Karzai, amid charges of widespread fraud.

At least 13 of the 15 candidates who were running against Mr. Karzai announced their withdrawal from the fray, charging that the system meant to safeguard against bogus voting had failed.

According to wire services, the remaining two candidates later joined the boycott.

The dispute began soon after the early-morning start of balloting in the capital, Kabul, when it was discovered that inexperienced Afghan polling officials were using the wrong marker pens to prevent multiple voting.

Instead of marking the left thumbs of voters with a special indelible ink — the last line of defense against people voting repeatedly — officials were using ordinary pens meant for marking ballot papers.

Election officials nevertheless refused to halt the process, which was completed smoothly as millions of Afghans kept their promise to vote fearlessly despite the threat of large-scale attacks by anti-government Taliban rebels.

“Given the complexities of this electoral process, there have inevitably been some technical problems,” said Ray Kennedy, vice chairman of the U.N.-appointed Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB).

“Nevertheless, the JEMB is encouraged that the voters of Afghanistan have turned out in large numbers and the process overall has been safe and orderly,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Men and women voted at separate booths, in keeping with this nation’s strict Islamic teachings.

“Overall, there was massive participation in the election,” said U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva.

Mr. Karzai — who is widely favored to win — said the fate of the balloting was with the electoral panel, but he added that, in his view, “The election was free and fair. … It is very legitimate.”

Ballot counting is expected to take weeks.

President Bush, at a campaign rally in Minnesota, said that a “great thing had happened” with the Afghan election. “Freedom is beautiful. Freedom is on the march,” he said.

In Afghanistan, optimism swelled among many who cast their ballots.

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