KABUL, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - Incumbent Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is leading slightly in the presidential vote after 10% of ballots have been counted, the country's Independent Election Commission said on Tuesday.
Spokesmen for incumbent President Hamid Karzai and ex-premier Abdullah Abdullah have both said their candidates won an outright majority. If none of the 30 presidential candidates secures 50% of the vote, a run-off will be held in October.
Of 555,842 ballots counted, Karzai has received around 40.6% with 38.7% in favor of his main election rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Ex-lawmaker Ramzan Bashardost is in third with 10.25% of the vote.
Some 5.6% of the votes were declared invalid.
Around 85% of votes have so far been registered in the central system. The troubled southern Afghan province of Helmand and northeastern province of Badakhshan have so far failed to provide any voting data.
Observers say the turnout was quite low due to security concerns. More than 70 militant attacks occurred in almost half of the country's provinces during the polls.
Preliminary nationwide results are expected not before September 3. The final results, previously scheduled for September 17, could be further delayed by an investigation into 225 reports of abuses received by the Electoral Complaints Commission.
