Having voted for a new president, Afghans face a tense few weeks waiting to see if there is a clear result. 

At Kabul University some students are optimistic. 

"I think the election is very good in our country Afghanistan," said Muhibullah, an engineering student. 

Others gathered around to offer a different opinion. 

"People believe the politicians work for their own profits and they don't look for the profit of the people," said economics student Jamal. 

"Looking at the experience of the last two or three elections, we have reached to the conclusion that we will never have a clean election in Afghanistan because of the powerful people who control the government and who have implemented a dictatorship policy," added economics student Mujtaba.

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Afghan presidential election sees big drop in voter turnout

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Early counting suggests incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and his government's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah are neck and neck. 

However, voter turnout was low and there are concerns the drawn-out process, amid more allegations of election fraud, could paralyze the government, leading to a prolonged political crisis as the Taliban continue to make gains.

Like many women at Kabul University, planning and policy student Farzana wants the new president to be announced soon so that clear policies could be implemented to forge a peace deal without handing too much power to the Taliban. 

"I'm not happy with the Taliban growing stronger," said Farzana. "The thing that they want is to stop knowledge. For example, they don't want girls to go to university or study. When somebody comes and tries to stop you from moving forward of course you won't like it, I'm personally afraid of the Taliban coming to power." 

The U.S. recently broke off peace talks with the Taliban that were aimed at U.S. troop reduction in Afghanistan.

There are currently about 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan along with thousands more from NATO countries still carrying out a mission to train, advise and assist local security forces.  

Despite their presence, the Taliban now control more territory than at any point since the U.S. led invasion in 2001.

Taliban attacks on polling stations kept many people away. 

"The Taliban announced that they launched a hundred attacks yesterday (September 28) and reports show that at least 30 military personnel were killed yesterday. So, the first reason is security but the second is that people have a lot of questions to the politicians," saids Zaki Daryabi, publisher and Editor-in-Chief of investigative online magazine @Etilaatroz. 

Analysts said allegations of past electoral fraud and corruption has led to disillusionment. 

"It is very dangerous for the next government of Afghanistan because people have showed they don't believe in the next government of Afghanistan," said Nasrullah Stanekzai, professor of law at Kabul University.

Afghans want a better economy and less corruption, but those are not the top priority. 

"Decreasing violence, to stop the killing of civilians. This is the first priority. I think that's what everyone wants in Afghanistan – to end this war," said Zaki Daryabi. 

If an outcome is announced in three weeks, it's likely to lead to a run-off election between the two leading candidates, which some officials say would happen in November at the earliest.   

(Cover: An Independent Election Commission worker and a sniffer dog check election ballot boxes for explosives after they were unloaded from a truck at a warehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 29, 2019. /VCG Photo)