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Karzai casts vote in presidential runoff polls

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IANS Kabul
Last Updated : Jun 14 2014 | 11:08 AM IST

Afghanistan's outgoing President Hamid Karzai Saturday cast his vote in the presidential election runoff.

The Afghan leader along with other high-ranking officials arrived at Amani High School near the presidential palace at around 7.45 a.m. to cast their vote, Xinhua reported.

Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive five-year term, urged all Afghan voters to take part in the election process.

"Today is a historic day in Afghanistan. I urge all Afghans to visit the polling centres and cast their votes for a bright future, for a new president and for a new government," Karzai said.

The runoff election will decide whether former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai leads the country into a new era with declining international military and civilian assistance.

The two entered a runoff after none of the eight candidates obtained an outright victory or more than half of the valid votes in the first round held April 5.

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According to the final results of the April 5 election, Abdullah secured 45 percent of some 7 million votes, and Ahmadzai won 31.6 percent.

Afghans began voting earlier Saturday to elect a new president for the next five years in the first transfer of power through polling in the country's history.

The polling began at 7 a.m. and will end at 4 p.m.

More than 12 million eligible voters, 35 percent of them women, are expected to cast their ballots in the one-day election across Afghanistan.

The preliminary results of the runoff will be announced July 2 while the final result of the polls will be declared July 22.

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First Published: Jun 14 2014 | 11:00 AM IST

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