Afghan Presidential Election, 2009

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The 2009 presidential election in Afghanistan was characterized by lack of security, low voter turnout and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud.

The vote, along with elections for 420 provincial council seats, took place on August 20, 2009, but remained unresolved during a lengthy period of vote counting and fraud investigation.

Two months later, under heavy U.S. and ally pressure, a second round run-off vote between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and his main rival Abdullah Abdullah was announced for November 7, 2009. On November 1, however, Abdullah announced that he would no longer be participating in the run-off because his demands for changes in the electoral commission had not been met, and a "transparent election is not possible." A day later, on November 2, 2009, officials of the election commission cancelled the run-off and declared Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan for another 5 year term.

The 2009 presidential election was the second under the present constitution of Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai won the previous election held in 2004.

NATO officials announced in March 2009 that 15.6 million voters had registered to vote, roughly half of the country's population, and that 35 to 38 percent of registered voters were women. Those registration numbers were disputed, however, by the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan and media reports, which suggested widespread fraudulent activity in the election process.

The Taliban called for a boycott of the election, describing it as a "program of the crusaders" and "this American process".

Read more about Afghan Presidential Election, 2009:  Election Date, Candidates, Campaign, Lack of Security, Election Fraud, Flawed Election, Low Voter Turnout, November 7 Run-off Election, Perceived U.S. Interference, Accusations of A United Nations Cover-up