Ghani ahead of Abdullah in preliminary results

KABUL (Pajhwok) The Independent Election Commission (IEC) finally announced the preliminary results of the presidential vote on Monday, with Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai taking lead over his rival.

Addressing a well-attended news conference in Kabul, IEC Chairman Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani unveiled the long-awaited outcome after a five days delay. He said 8.109493 million ballots had been found valid.

The initial results showed the turnout in the second round of the election had been around 60 percent — 38 percent of them women. Under the constitution, a candidate securing more ballots in the runoff election is declared a winner.

None of the runners could secure more than 50 percent of votes in the first round on April 5. Ahmadzai secured a total of 4485888 votes or 56.4 percent while Abdullah got 3461639 ballots of 43.6 percent in the second round.