More than one million votes have been counted as tallying in Saturday's presidential election has been continuing, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Sunday. Unofficial estimates quoted by Reuters indicate that just over two million or about 20 percent of registered voters showed up at polling stations, a significant drop from roughly seven million in the country's 2014 presidential election.

"According to initial figures, 1,051,998 voters cast their votes in 2,597 polling centers out of 4,905 polling centers where election materials were dispatched," the IEC said in a statement.

The statement added that the number of voters in 2,308 remaining centers and an exact number of the election turnout will be shared with media soon.

The IEC initially planned to hold polls in 5,373 centers across the country, but many polling sites did not open due to security threats and Taliban attacks.

Over 9.4 million eligible voters registered to cast their votes during the polling. However, thousands of voters were deprived to vote as election workers could not find their names in voters' registration lists and biometric verification devices. 

Fourteen out of the 18 registered hopefuls contested for the presidency with a five-year term and among the candidates are sitting president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and government chief executive Abdullah Abdullah. 

Preliminary results of the poll will be announced on October 19 and the final results are expected on November 7, according to election timetable.

Polls close in Afghan election, results not expected before Oct. 17

(With input from Xinhua and Reuters)