Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (C) speaks at a polling station during the presidential election in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 28, 2019. /VCG Photo
The front-runners for Afghanistan's presidency, incumbent Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, have both declared victory, echoing an election crisis five years ago when competing claims by the two men led to months of turmoil.
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission is gathering votes from Saturday's election. If no candidate wins more than half, a runoff vote would be held between the top two.
"Our votes are the highest in the election, and the election will not go to the second round," Abdullah said at a press conference in Kabul on Monday.
Ghani's running mate Amrullah Saleh said on Sunday that Ghani had won a clear first-ballot victory, without offering evidence.
Ghani and Abdullah were also the top two candidates in the last election in 2014, leading to months of turmoil as both men accused each other of fraud.
Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (R) casts his vote at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 28, 2019. /VCG Photo
Read more:
Afghan election: Early results suggest a close race after low turnout
According to initial figures released by IEC, about 2.2 million voters cast their votes in 3,736 polling centers out of 4,905 polling centers where election materials were dispatched.
Over 9.4 million eligible voters registered to cast their votes during the polling. Thousands of voters had been deprived of their right to vote, as election workers could not find their names in voters' registration lists.
However, officials with the election body say that no one can judge the outcome of the elections and the election commission is the only authorized body that declares election results after counting the votes and investigating all the complaints of alleged fraud.
Fourteen out of the 18 registered candidates contested for the presidency and among them are sitting Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
Preliminary results of the presidential election will be unveiled on October 19 and the final results of the election are expected to be announced on November 7, according to election timetable.
If none of the candidates wins over 50 percent of the votes in the first round, the two front-runners will enter runoff slated for late November.