Afghan officials hailed a parliamentary vote Saturday as a success despite low turnout, attacks that killed 14 people and widespread fraud that could undermine the result and test the government's credibility. Taliban attacks and attempts at vote-rigging were reported across the country. While there was less violence, attacks were more widespread than during a deeply flawed presidential vote last year and reached into once peaceful areas. The election was being closely watched in Washington ahead of US President Barack Obama's planned war strategy review in December, which will likely examine the pace and scale of US troop withdrawals after nine years of war. “As a whole I would rate this election successful,” said Fazl Ahmad Manawi, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) chairman. Voters appeared hesitant after a series of rocket attacks, beginning with a pre-dawn strike near the main headquarters of NATO-led troops and the US embassy in the capital, Kabul. The Taliban said on their website after polls closed they had conducted more than 150 attacks, fewer than the 272 blamed on insurgents during last year's presidential poll. Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said there had been 305 “enemy actions”. Gen. David Petraeus, the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, praised Afghan security forces and voters. Afghan Interior Minister Gen. Bismillah Khan said three police and 11 civilians were killed, with dozens more wounded. In one of the worst incidents, Taliban gunmen attacked a security post near a polling site in northern Baghlan province. The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the poll and warned voters not to cast ballots. Their threats appeared to have an impact, with 3,642,444 votes cast, according to preliminary figures released by the IEC. The United Nations' top diplomat in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, told Reuters before the vote that a turnout of between five million and seven million could be considered a success. The IEC has put the number of eligible voters at 11.4 million. Manawi said 4,632 polling centres had opened. The IEC had originally planned to open 6,835 but said before polling day 1,019 of those would remain closed because they were unsafe. As well as the low turnout and violence, thousands of reported attempts at fraud threatened to undermine the poll's credibility, and that of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Karzai cast his ballot in Kabul for a female Hindu candidate, two palace officials said, a choice that could rankle supporters in the conservative nation. The National Directorate of Security said more than 22,000 fake registration cards were found in the last three days. There were widespread reports of bribery and intimidation also. An ink-stained fingertip was meant to mark those who had cast ballots but voters, campaign workers and observers said some ink batches washed off easily and others came off with bleach, potentially allowing multiple trips to the polls. The independent Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan said the problem had hit almost 3,000 centers. “I voted and you see my finger is washed clean of ink,” said Bashir Ahmad from western Herat city, waving his unstained digit. Poll observers expect thousands of complaints, which must be lodged within 72 hours and could delay the process further.
