WAR: Afghans Set for Historic Vote Under Militant Threat. UPDATE: Polls are open, page 1

Under the threat of terrorism, voters in Afghanistan are set to make history tomorrow by electing their first president. The key to the election appears to be turnout. Election officials are hoping that despite Taliban threats to disrupt, that 60% of the 12 million registered will turn out to cast votes.

story.news.yahoo.com
KABUL (Reuters) - Millions of Afghans prepared for a historic poll on Saturday, which will give the mountainous Islamic nation on the ancient Silk Road its first elected president and perhaps end over a quarter century of war.

There were no immediate reports of any major attacks overnight by the fundamentalist Taliban militants, who have vowed to disrupt what they call a U.S.-orchestrated sham.

Polls open at 7 a.m. (0230 GMT) and close at 4 p.m., and the focus is on how many people turn out in defiance of the Taliban and whether U.S.-backed favorite, President Hamid Karzai, gets the 51 percent vote needed to avoid a November run-off.

Karzai's team is reportedly hoping that at least 60 percent of the almost 12 million eligible voters will turn up, which will go a long way to proving that democracy has made a strong start in a nation which was invaded by U.S.-led forces three years ago and is still controlled in large part by regional warlords.

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The U.S. Backed interim president Hamid Karzai is hoping to gt the 51% of the vote to avoid a runoff that could expose the election process to further threats and disruptment. They further hope that this will show that democracy has taken hold in a country that still has parts of it dominated by warlords. Security is expected to be tight with over 18,000 U.S. troops providing support to 42,000 Afghan police and military. NATO also is assisting with 8,000 troops as well.
Karzi the clear favorite has 16 other opponents in the race

[edit on 10/8/04 by FredT]