Afghan election heads for June runoff | CNN

Photos: Afghanistan election —

An Afghan poll worker notes the serial numbers of sealed ballot boxes in Kabul.

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Afghan election workers count ballots by the light of a lantern at a polling station in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Saturday, April 5.

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An Afghan man casts his vote at a polling station in Jalalabad on Saturday, April 5. A heavy security presence across the country ensured that the vote went largely smoothly, although some attacks were reported.

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Afghan women show inked fingers after casting their votes at a polling station in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on April 5. Despite threats from the Taliban to disrupt the vote and punish all involved, Afghans remain enthusiastic about the election. The top presidential contenders are Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmai Rassoul. The winner will replace President Hamid Karzai.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai displays his inked finger after voting.

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Afghans wait in long lines for their chance to cast a vote.

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A man casts his vote at a polling station in Kabul.

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A police officer checks a man at a polling station in Jalalabad.

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Men line up for registration before voting at a polling station in Kabul.

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Presidential candidate and Karzai ally Zalmai Rassoul votes at Amani High School, near the presidential palace in Kabul. Rassoul's running mate is Habiba Sarabi, one of only three female vice presidential candidates on the ballot. Her candidacy could appeal to female voters.

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Female voters crowd outside a polling station in Kabul.

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Women cast their ballots at a polling station in Kabul.

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Presidential contender Ashraf Ghani casts his ballot at a polling station in Kabul. Ghani, who earned his doctorate at Columbia University, is from the Pashtun ethnic group. His running mate is Abdul Rashid Dostum, a leader of the Uzbek ethnic group.

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An election official helps a female voter as she dips her finger in an ink pot at a polling station in Kandahar.

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Presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, center, and his running mates Mohammed Mohaqiq, right, and Mohammad Khan, left, show their fingers marked with ink after casting their ballots at a polling station in Kabul.

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Photos: Afghanistan election

Story highlights

Afghanistan's presidential election will go to a second round

Electoral commission says final results will be released May 14

It will be the country's first democratic transfer of presidential power

Kabul, Afghanistan CNN —

Afghanistan’s presidential election will go to a second round after no one candidate garnered more than 50% of the vote, the country’s election commission said Saturday.

The top two vote-getters, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, will be in a runoff slated for June 7, said Independent Election Commission head Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani.

“I think the elections went pretty good, we are satisfied with it and with the results,” Nuristani said on state television.

Seven million Afghans went to the polls on April 5 to choose a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai. It will be the country’s first democratic transfer of presidential power.

The preliminary results were announced Saturday, showing Abdullah with 45% of the votes and Ghani with 32%. Zalmai Rasoul’s presidential hopes ended with a third place finish with 12% of the vote.

Abdullah and Ghani were seen as the front-runners going into the April 5 ballot.

Abdullah, who is associated with the Tajik ethnic group, is partnered with Mohammad Mohaqeq, a leader of the Hazara ethnic group. He also has a Pashtun on the ticket.

An eye doctor by training, Abdullah became Afghanistan’s foreign minister under Karzai. He ran against him in 2009 but dropped out to protest what he saw as large-scale voter fraud.

He is considered to be relatively liberal and has made at least one public statement in support of women’s rights.

Ghani, who earned his doctorate at Columbia University in the United States, is from the Pashtun ethnic group. His running mate is Abdul Rashid Dostum, a leader of the Uzbek ethnic group.

Ghani was the country’s finance minister under Karzai.

Security will be a key issue for whoever is elected president.

A series of deadly attacks marked the run-up to the vote, and Kabul was again rocked by violence Thursday when at least three American medical workers in the capital were shot by a policeman guarding a hospital.

NATO troops are scheduled to draw down from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Karzai, who is constitutionally required to step down after two terms in office, has refused to sign an agreement to keep international forces in Afghanistan, also known as the Status of Forces Agreement.

But the two leading presidential candidates have said they would sign it.