Afghan election: how does it work?
Updated on 20 August 2009
As Afghanistan goes to the polls Channel 4 News examines the process for choosing the president.
It is the second time democratic elections have been held in the country since the Taliban fell in 2002.
In 2004 Hamid Karzai was elected president, winning 21 of the 34 provinces. He is the favourite to win again, but Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani are also considered contenders.
If no candidate wins an absolute majority, there will be a run-off in six weeks.
Nato claims more than 15 million people are registered to vote but those figures are disputed because there is evidence that voting cards have been sold.
Election monitors accept there will be a level of corruption in the election but they hope to limit it to the extent there will be no impact on the final result.
Less than 40 per cent of the registered voters are thought to be women but there are thought to be equal numbers of male and female voters in the cities.
After casting their ballot, every voter has their right index finger stained with ink to prevent repeat voting.
The Taliban have urged people to boycott the election and they have threatened to cut off any fingers coated in voting ink.
