Afghan Vote Marked by Light Turnout and Violence

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ROD NORDLAND
NYT

MARJA, Afghanistan — The first voter here was Muhammad Akbar, 22, who dipped his finger in the indelible purple ink, collected his ballot and had just stepped into the cardboard box that served as a voting booth when gunfire broke out.

“They’re right on time,” said Lt. Col. Kyle Ellison, commander of the Second Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment.

The Taliban had vowed to disrupt Afghanistan’s parliamentary election and sought to make good on that promise throughout the country on Saturday. At least 10 people were killed, scores of polling stations were attacked and hundreds of them apparently never opened.

Even where there was no shooting, turnout was light. Many polling centers were largely empty for most of the day, in sharp contrast to presidential elections a year ago, when voters waited in long lines. And where there was voting, there were numerous reports of fraud, from vote buying to ballot stuffing.

(More here.)