Afghans vote despite threat

A soldier with the Afghan National Army (ANA) shows off the ink on his finger, proof that he voted, while working in the tactical operations center at Camp Maiwand, April 5, 2014.

Despite threats of Taliban violence, Afghans went to the polls in large numbers to select a successor to current President Hamid Karzai.

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An Afghan woman dips her finger into ink before casting her vote at a polling station in Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 5, 2014.

Afghan voters lined up for blocks at polling stations nationwide on Saturday, defying a threat of violence by the Taliban to cast ballots in what promises to be the nation's first democratic transfer of power.

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Afghan women cast their ballots at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 5, 2014.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, walks to the ballot boxes before he casts his vote at Amani high school, near the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 5, 2014.

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A man who was shot in the chest while on his way to vote is loaded into an ambulance at Camp Maiwand, an Afghan National Army (ANA) base, on April 5, 2014 near Pul-e Alam, Afghanistan.

The victim was transported to the U.S. Army clinic on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank, which sits alongside Maiwand, where he died from his wounds.

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A man with blood-stained clothing tries to help his brother get treatment for a gunshot wound to the chest. The brother, who died undergoing surgery, was shot on the way to vote.

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A worker scans the iris of an Afghan worker entering Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank. Security on the FOB was at a heightened state for the national election.

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Ink stains the finger of a officer with the Afghan National Army (ANA), proof that he voted, while he works in the tactical operations center directing security for the election at Camp Maiwand, April 5, 2014.

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SGT Alonzo Hanna, from Bronx, N.Y., keeps watch on an entrance gate from a guard tower on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank, April 5, 2014.

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PFC Zachary Chestnutt, from Atlantic City, N.J., keeps watch on an entrance gate from a guard tower on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank, April 5, 2014.

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Soldiers with the Afghan National Army (ANA) direct security for the election from the tactical operations center at Camp Maiwand, April 5, 2014.

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An Afghan woman casts her vote at a polling station in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 5, 2014.

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An Afghan woman, center, walks to cast her ballot at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 5, 2014.

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An Afghan police officer provides security as a truck carrying ballot boxes arrives at the election commission office after votes in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 6, 2014.

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Afghan election workers count ballots by the light of a lantern at a polling station in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 5, 2014.