Presidential election in Afghanistan 2014

The election winner Ashraf Ghani

The 2014 presidential election in Afghanistan took place on April 5, 2014. The previous incumbent Hamid Karzai was not allowed to run again because the president cannot hold office for more than two terms. Since none of the candidates achieved an absolute majority in the first ballot, a run-off election took place on June 14, 2014 between the two best-placed candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani . In this runoff election, Ashraf Ghani obtained an absolute majority of the votes. The result was then questioned by the supporters of Abdullah, who spoke of electoral fraud. Then it was counted again. On September 21, 2014, the two opponents reached an agreement, which includes that Ashraf Ghani will succeed Karzai in the presidency, while the post of prime minister will be occupied by a confidante of Abdullah.

It was the first democratic change of power in the country's history.

Candidates

By the deadline of October 6, 2013, 27 candidates registered for election. On October 22, 2013, the Independent Electoral Commission expelled 16 candidates. Forecasts in December 2013 favored the eleven remaining candidates in favor of the runner-up candidate in the 2009 election , Abdullah Abdullah with 25 to 31%, and the independent Ashraf Ghani with 25 to 29% approval, which was supported by the Afghan National Coalition . The preferred candidate of the previous President Karzai is his close confidante Zalmay Rassoul .

The following list represents the eleven candidates accepted for election in the order of their appearance on the ballot paper.

Presidential candidate		Political party	Short biography
	Abdullah Abdullah	National coalition	Abdullah studied medicine in Kabul and worked there as an ophthalmologist. He was Afghan Foreign Minister from 1999 to 2006, the last five years of which in the Karzai government. In the Afghan presidential election in 2009 he ran as an opposition candidate, but then decided not to participate in the second ballot in favor of Karzai due to doubts about the correctness of the electoral process.
	Ashraf Ghani	More independent	Forced to emigrate by the communist takeover of Afghanistan in 1979, Ghani initially made a career as a scientist at US universities and later as a consultant at the World Bank and other international institutions. From 2002 to 2004 he was Afghan Finance Minister. In 2009 he ran for the Afghan presidency, but ended up being far behind with around 3% of the vote.
	Abdul Rasul Sayyaf	Islamic Dawa Organization	Sayyaf was a member of the Mujahideen in the 1980s and fought against the Soviet occupation forces. During these years he also had contacts with radical Islamic organizations such as al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden . From the 1990s, his mujahideen were repeatedly accused of serious human rights violations. Despite ideological differences, he joined the Dawa organization he founded in the Northern Alliance, which was directed against the radical Islamic Taliban .
	Zalmay Rassoul	More independent	Rassoul is a distant relative of the former ruling Afghan royal family. He studied medicine in Paris and worked scientifically for a few years. From January 2010 to October 2013 he was Afghan Foreign Minister in the Karzai government. He resigned from ministerial office to focus on the presidential campaign.
	Gul Agha Schersai (Mohammad Schafiq)	More independent	Schersaui fought with the mujahideen against the Soviet occupation forces. He is a trained teacher. From 1992 to 1994 he was governor of Kandahar until the Taliban came to power locally . He has been the governor of Nangarhar Province since 1994 . He resigned from this post on October 2, 2013 to pursue the presidential campaign.
	Qutbuddin Hilal	More independent	former Vice Prime Minister
	Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy	More independent	Sultanzoy is an engineer by training and previously worked as a pilot for United Airlines . After many years in the United States, he returned to Afghanistan in 2001. There he was temporarily a member of the Afghan parliament.
	Hedayat Amin Arsala	More independent	Economist, former finance and foreign minister and vice president

Candidates who withdrew their candidacy

The following three people registered their candidacy, but withdrew them before the ballot.

Presidential candidate		Political party	Short biography
	Quayum Karzai	More independent	Quayum Karzai is the older brother of the previous President Hamid Karzai . Before he got involved in Afghan politics, he was a businessman in the United States. He was a member of the Afghan parliament, but stepped down from parliament in 2008. He ran in the 2014 election without the support of his brother Hamid. Under pressure from his brother, he ended his candidacy on March 6, 2014 and spoke out in favor of Zalmay Rassoul.
	Abdul Rahim Wardak	More independent	Wardak is an officer and trained in Egyptian and US military schools. During the time of the occupation of the country by the Soviet Union, he joined the Mujahideen. From 2004 to 2012 he was Minister of Defense in the Karzai government. On March 16, 2014, he announced his withdrawal from the candidacy without giving any reason.
	Sardar Mohammad Nadir Naim	More independent	He is the grandson of the last Afghan King Mohammed Sahir Shah , who was deposed in 1973. Although he was born in Afghanistan, he grew up largely in England, where he also obtained a bachelor's degree in computer science. At the end of March 2014, he announced his withdrawal from the candidacy and called for the support of Zalmai Rassoul.

Results

Absolute and relative majorities in the first electoral round by province : Abdullah Abdullah (absolute majority) Abdullah Abdullah (relative majority) Ashraf Ghani (absolute majority) Ashraf Ghani (relative majority) Zalmay Rassoul (absolute majority)






Negotiations between the two main opponents, Abdullah (left) and Ghani (right), mediated by John Kerry on July 12, 2014

Percentage voting results of the two main candidates in the first round by provinces

In the first round, none of the candidates achieved an absolute majority. The top two candidates were Abdullah Abdullah (45%) and Ashraf Ghani (31.6%). The regional distribution of voting preferences reflected the ethnic heterogeneity of the country. Abdullah was predominantly successful in those parts of the country where Persian (or Tajik ) is spoken, while Ghani and Rassoul won their majorities in the Pashtun (and Turkmen ) areas.

On June 14, 2014, there was a runoff between the two best-placed applicants, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani . Zalmai Rassoul, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and Gul Agha Sherzai voted in favor of Abdullah of the 25 candidates who were eliminated in the first round of elections.

In the runoff election, Ashraf Ghani surprisingly achieved a majority, although he was 13 percentage points behind Abdullah in the first round of the election. The election result was challenged by the supporters of Abdullah, who spoke of electoral fraud and threatened not to recognize the election. As a result, on July 12, 2014, through the mediation of the US Secretary of State John Kerry , an agreement was reached according to which the votes of the second ballot should be counted again. Both Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani agreed to this. It is a strong sign that both candidates have a desire to restore the legitimacy of the process and Afghan democracy, said John Kerry. On September 21, Ghani was officially declared the winner of the election, without the exact figures of the result of the vote recount being disclosed. At the same time, an agreement between the two opponents became known, after the office of Prime Minister was to be filled by a confidante of Abdullah. Abdullah had refused this office for himself. On September 26, 2014, the final election results were published, according to which Ashraf Ghani was elected as the new head of state with 55.27 percent of the vote.

Overall result

candidate	Political party	First round		Second round
		be right	%	be right	%
Ashraf Ghani	More independent	2,084,547	31.56	4,485,888	56.44
Abdullah Abdullah	National coalition	2,972,141	45.00	3,461,639	43.56
Zalmay Rassoul	More independent	750.997	11.37
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf	Islamic Dawa Organization	465.207	7.04
Qutbuddin Hilal	More independent	181,827	2.75
Gul Agha Schersai	More independent	103,636	1.57
Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy	More independent	30,685	0.46
Hedayat Amin Arsala	More independent	15,506	0.23
Invalid / blank ballot papers			-		-
total		6,604,546	100	7,947,527	100
voter turnout
Source: IEC

Results of the first ballot by province

The table below shows the final results of the first round of voting by candidate and province. Relative or absolute majorities are marked in color.

First ballot
province	results for
	Abdullah Abdullah		Ashraf Ghani		Qutbuddin Hilal		Hedayat Amin Arsala		Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy		Gul Agha Schersai		Abdul Rasul Sayyaf		Zalmay Rassoul
	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%	number	%
Kabul	389584	49.62	248220	31.62	14408	1.84	1466	0.19	3530	0.45	3962	0.50	59107	7.53	64811	8.26
Kapisa	52544	78.81	2745	4.12	3363	5.04	136	0.20	204	0.31	108	0.16	3825	5.74	3745	5.62
Parwan	107478	71.80	8395	5.61	7268	4.86	165	0.11	1001	0.67	388	0.26	9191	6.14	15815	10.56
Wardak	36253	36.37	15064	15.11	5010	5.03	369	0.37	592	0.59	1147	1.15	24559	24.64	16692	16.74
Lugar	6169	18.65	20953	63.35	876	2.65	76	0.23	297	0.90	183	0.55	3721	11.25	798	2.41
Ghazni	194264	54.01	68328	19.00	6183	1.72	595	0.17	1763	0.49	5250	1.46	22540	6.27	60784	16.90
Paktika	19097	10.55	118089	65.21	9841	5.43	167	0.09	392	0.22	1196	0.66	5630	3.11	26667	14.73
Paktia	13610	5.37	157826	62.32	25545	10.09	261	0.10	737	0.29	1495	0.59	34847	13.76	18913	7.47
Chost	4040	3.57	83691	74.01	13479	11.92	265	0.23	145	0.13	200	0.18	2648	2.34	8615	7.62
Nangarhar	63689	19.00	200409	59.80	16408	4.90	876	0.26	1032	0.31	3433	1.02	24041	7.17	25247	7.53
Kunar	13257	12.35	69545	64.76	4256	3.96	383	0.36	409	0.38	210	0.20	7416	6.91	11910	11.09
Laghman	8495	10.40	40673	49.82	16221	19.87	74	0.09	134	0.16	320	0.39	8096	9.92	7634	9.35
Nuristan	23234	37.64	9001	14.58	3809	6.17	36	0.06	48	0.08	158	0.26	17858	28.93	7585	12.29
Badakhshan	191260	64.85	42548	14.43	5864	1.99	472	0.16	999	0.34	212	0.07	25537	8.66	28044	9.51
Tachar	159375	50.35	121100	38.25	4494	1.42	1003	0.32	1832	0.58	649	0.21	12063	3.81	16049	5.07
Baglan	152560	60.14	51953	20.48	7560	2.98	374	0.15	904	0.36	1917	0.76	10033	3.95	28380	11.19
Kunduz	100413	47.05	80893	37.91	5262	2.47	671	0.31	1252	0.59	1423	0.67	12272	5.75	11223	5.26
Samangan	86845	61.33	37632	26.58	899	0.63	482	0.34	991	0.70	309	0.22	3612	2.55	10822	7.64
Balch	238582	60.92	109694	28.01	2073	0.53	904	0.23	2196	0.56	1597	0.41	4512	1.15	32060	8.19
Juzjan	29375	19.94	101985	69.23	736	0.50	760	0.52	846	0.57	557	0.38	3020	2.05	10029	6.81
Sar-i Pul	74711	50.41	57097	38.53	826	0.56	373	0.25	672	0.45	1933	1.30	3472	2.34	9113	6.15
Faryab	77633	29.31	173225	65.39	605	0.23	381	0.14	708	0.27	1573	0.59	4277	1.61	6508	2.46
Badghis	86620	67.52	12577	9.80	3970	3.09	340	0.27	671	0.52	479	0.37	16657	12.98	6983	5.44
Herat	301364	61.15	54618	11.08	3170	0.64	851	0.17	2573	0.52	6129	1.24	67892	13.78	56254	11.41
Farah	18029	31.78	22708	40.03	908	1.60	231	0.41	444	0.78	919	1.62	6016	10.60	7474	13.17
Nimrus	9674	20.88	15562	33.59	930	2.01	285	0.62	437	0.94	777	1.68	4550	9.82	14109	30.46
Helmand	17905	17.29	34110	32.94	4308	4.16	604	0.58	762	0.74	13447	12.98	3980	3.84	28442	27.46
Kandahar	26500	10.61	34698	13.90	6981	2.80	1215	0.49	1373	0.55	40004	16.02	4175	1.67	134720	53.96
Zabul	3856	18.93	7782	38.19	2034	9.98	258	1.27	291	1.43	751	3.69	1023	5.02	4380	21.50
Urusgan	5317	23.80	6022	26.95	1205	5.39	180	0.81	317	1.42	3335	14.93	637	2.85	5332	23.86
Ghor	180446	59.51	39698	13.09	2591	0.85	307	0.10	959	0.32	3520	1.16	48565	16.02	27111	8.94
Bamiyan	113324	67.93	18427	11.05	359	0.22	561	0.34	1007	0.60	4735	2.84	7695	4.61	20720	12.42
Panjshir	37925	87.29	166	0.38	115	0.26	15th	0.03	141	0.32	21st	0.05	946	2.18	4118	9.48
Daikondi	128713	75.05	19113	11.14	270	0.16	370	0.22	1026	0.60	1299	0.76	794	0.46	19910	11.61

Results of the second ballot by provinces

The following table shows the preliminary results of the second ballot before the votes are recounted. The result was not recognized by the supporters of Abdullah Abdullah, so the votes were recounted. A detailed result of the newly counted votes has not yet been announced by the Afghan electoral commission, only the confirmation that Ashraf Ghani had obtained a majority of the votes.

Preliminary results of the runoff election: majority for Ashraf Ghani majority for Abdullah Abdullah



Second ballot (first vote count)
province	results for				total
	Abdullah Abdullah		Ashraf Ghani
	be right	percent	be right	percent
Kabul	422.269	48.2	454.296	51.8	876,565
Kapisa	74,364	87.4	10,756	12.6	85.120
Parwan	124.287	86.1	20,044	13.9	144,331
Wardak	49.281	20.9	186,382	79.1	235.663
Lugar	8,722	9.2	86,567	90.8	95.289
Ghazni	181.791	58.5	129,146	41.5	310.937
Paktika	47,389	11.7	357.173	88.3	404,562
Paktia	26,960	8.1	307,445	91.9	334.405
Chost	11,628	2.9	388,532	97.1	400.160
Nangarhar	91,738	22.4	318,348	77.6	410.086
Kunar	25,521	12.0	186,697	88.0	212.218
Laghman	16,986	14.2	102,556	85.8	119,542
Nuristan	57.193	70.7	23,722	29.3	80.915
Badakhshan	247,637	79.3	64,578	20.7	312.215
Tachar	160.218	52.2	146,648	47.8	306.866
Baglan	212.223	55.2	172.317	44.8	384,540
Kunduz	81,375	42.4	110,742	57.6	192.117
Samangan	89.141	63.2	51,962	36.8	141.103
Balch	224.506	63.1	131,259	36.9	355.765
Juzjan	25.179	19.3	104,957	80.7	130.136
Sar-i Pul	62.117	53.3	70,830	46.7	132,947
Faryab	113.228	34.2	217,895	65.8	331.123
Badghis	88,650	65.5	46,702	34.5	135.352
Herat	325,843	63.6	186.118	36.4	511,961
Farah	40.133	53.2	35,252	46.8	75,385
Nimrus	10,970	34.7	20,668	65.3	31,638
Helmand	18,083	30.6	40,943	69.6	59,026
Kandahar	51.186	16.0	268,946	84.0	320.132
Zabul	4,446	7.4	55,408	92.6	59,854
Urusgan	6,709	32.5	13,922	65.5	20,631
Ghor	238.303	72.5	90.491	27.5	328.794
Bamiyan	126,570	75.6	40,758	24.4	167,328
Panjshir	60.214	93.6	4,085	6.4	64,299
Daikondi	136,779	77.5	39,743	22.0	176,522
total	3,461,639	43.56	4,485,888	56.44	7,947,527

Web links

 Wikinews: Afghanistan: Candidates withdraw observers from election review  - News

• Afghanistan election guide: everything you need to know , ( the Guardian )
• Brief Biographies of 11 Afghan Presidential Candidates , (tasvirafghanistan.com) (English)
• Biographies of 11 presidential candidates , (Pajhwok Afghan News)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ US planning full Afghan pullout, Obama tells Karzai , in: bbc.co.uk (February 25, 2014), accessed April 5, 2014.
2. ↑ zeit.de / AFP
3. ^ Afghan election set for Abdullah-Ghani run-off. BBC News, April 26, 2014, accessed April 27, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Sandra Petermann: election drama in Afghanistan sealed ends unity government. tagesschau.de, September 21, 2014, archived from the original on September 21, 2014 ; accessed on September 21, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Afghanistan before the election: President of the unit wanted ( Memento from April 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), in: tagesschau.de (April 5, 2014).
6. ↑ Historical change of power: Presidential election in Afghanistan begins , in: stern.de (April 5, 2014).
7. ↑ 27 candidates enter race for Afghanistan's 2014 presidential election ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: foreignpolicy.com (October 7, 2013), accessed April 5, 2014. 
8. ↑ Sixteen Afghan election hopefuls disqualified , in: aljazeera.com (October 22, 2013), accessed April 5, 2014.
9. ↑ Polling Comes to Afghanistan, Suggesting Limit to Sway of President Karzai , in: nytimes.com (December 28, 2013), accessed April 5, 2014.
10. ↑ Presidential Names Ordered for Ballot ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: tolonews.com (November 25, 2013), accessed April 5, 2014. 
11. ↑ Sea Agha samimi: Biographies of 11 presidential candidates. October 26, 2013, accessed July 19, 2014 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b} Brief Biographies of 11 Afghan Presidential Candidates. tasvirafghanistan.com, accessed July 19, 2014 . 
13. ↑ Biography: Abdul Qayum Karzai. (No longer available online.) Afghan-web.com, July 19, 2014, archived from the original on September 24, 2014 ; accessed on July 19, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ Asharq Al-Awsat: Qayyum Karzai quits Afghan presidential race. aawsat.net, March 6, 2014, accessed July 19, 2014 . 
15. ↑ Rahim Faiez: Ex-defense minister drops out of Afghan race. Associated Press, March 16, 2014, accessed September 25, 2014 . 
16. ↑ Tony Cross: Sardar Muhammad Nadir Naeem - king's grandson withdraws. March 17, 2014, accessed July 19, 2014 . 
17. ↑ ^{a b c} 2014 Elections Results. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 22, 2014 ; Retrieved September 21, 2014 (English, results from the Afghan Electoral Commission). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Ghanizada: runoff Zalmai Rassoul Endorses Abdullah in election. Khaama Press, May 11, 2014, accessed September 21, 2014 . 
19. ↑ Ghanizada: Sayyaf to support Abdullah in election runoff. Khaama Press, June 1, 2014, accessed September 21, 2014 . 
20. ↑ Gul Agha Sherzai Endorses Abdullah in second round of election. Khaama Press, May 3, 2014, accessed September 21, 2014 . 
21. ↑ Emma Graham-Harrison: Afghan presidential candidate wins powerful backing for runoff. The Guardian, May 11, 2014, accessed September 21, 2014 . 
22. ^ Afghan presidential candidates agree vote audit. BBC News, July 12, 2014, accessed July 13, 2014 . 
23. ^ Afghan presidential candidates agree vote audit. BBC News, July 12, 2014, accessed July 13, 2014 . 
24. ^ What the Afghan power-sharing deal means. BBC News, September 21, 2014, accessed September 24, 2014 .