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.