• At polling centers, the number of representatives of candidates, foreign observers and media people was higher than the voters.

• Most of the voters did not know about the candidates for provincial seats. They thought the election was just for electing the new president. After casting their vote for the presidential candidate, when the election commission employees told them that they had to vote for any of the provincial candidate too, they were surprised at first, then randomly selected one candidate from the list and voted.

• At the polling center at Habibia High School, Karta-e-3, an elderly man told me he had voted for President Karzai. Minutes later another presidential candidate, Dr. Ashraf Ghani, arrived there and, after casting his vote, started meeting with voters. The elderly man met with him enthusiastically, praised his role in the country’s development and told him that he liked him very much. When Dr. Ghani left the polling center, I asked the elderly man why he voted for Karzai if he liked Dr. Ghani that much. ‘It is simple. I like Ghani, but I voted for Karzai because he had the required experience for a president and knew how to rule the country,’ he replied.

• There were people who campaigned for other candidates but ended up voting for Karzai. One of them said he did this because he knew President Karzai was going to win. ‘I did not like the idea of my vote going to a loser.’

• A friend told me that some Pashtoon voters did not like Karzai’s policies and government, yet they voted for him just because they did not want to see Dr. Abdullah as a winner. Many of the voters of this mentality, according to my friend, said: ‘If we voted for Dr. Ashraf Ghani, Pashtoon votes will be divided and Dr. Abdullah will win the election.’

• Turnout was low but very few of the voters who went to polling centers had any fears of the Taliban attacks. They were excited and many of them waited for many hours outside the polling centers to have some information about the results.

• A television crew wanted to show their audience that the turnout was high. So they lined up the voters, including those who had polled their votes, and filmed the scene.

Afghan Presidential Election 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Afghan Presidential Election 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Presidential candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani outside Habibia High School after he polled his voted. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Click to read: Majority of a low turnout voted for Karzai

Afghan Presidential Election 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Presidential candidate Ramazan Bashardost talking to media outside a polling center. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Afghan Presidential Election 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Click to read: Majority of a low turnout voted for Karzai

This is Habibia High School at Karta-e-3, Kabul. The line is made many meters away from where the votes were being polled. A television crew made the line to show their audience that turnout was good. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan.

Photos: Afghan Presidential Election: August 20, 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Click to read: Majority of a low turnout voted for Karzai

Photos: Afghan Presidential Election: August 20, 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Photos: Afghan Presidential Election: August 20, 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Photos: Afghan Presidential Election: August 20, 2009. Photo by Abdulhadi Hairan

Click to read: Majority of a low turnout voted for Karzai