Afghan election workers count ballots after the closing of the polls at a mosque made into a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans voted under the shadow of Taliban threats of violence Thursday to choose their next president for a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government nearly eight years after the U.S.-led invasion.
Voters arrive at the Friday Mosque to cast their votes in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
Voters are checked before they are allowed to enter a polling center in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. After 10 hours of voting, including a last-minute, one-hour extension, election workers began to count the millions of ballots cast across the country. Initial results weren't expected until Saturday.
Two women await their turns at a polling center in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
Afghan presidential candidate and current President Hamid Karzai holds his ballot before casting it at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Thousands of polling centers across Afghanistan opened for voting Thursday, and millions of Afghans were expected to choose a president to lead a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government.
Afghani presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah shows his finger marked with paint before casting his ballot at a polling station in Kabul, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
A woman and her baby wait in line with others to vote at a polling center in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
A voter tries to locate the candidate of his choice at a polling center in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
A voter waits for ballot papers at a polling center in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
A voter casts her ballot at a polling center in Herat, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
An Afghan woman colors her finger with ink to vote at a polling station in Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans went to the polls to elect the new president for the second time in the country's history.
Afghan voters line up to cast their ballots as an Afghan election official hangs an election information banner over the entrance of a mosque made into a polling station in Kabul on Thursday Aug. 20, 2009.
Election official Mohammad Hasan Haidari, left, prepares ballots for members of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police at a polling place in the village of Dahaneh, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Because of a suicide bomb threat, voting was initially open only to the soldiers and police behind closed doors before opening them to the general public.
An Afghan National Army soldier casts his vote on the presidential ballot on Thursday, Aug. 20 2009, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Because of a suicide bomb threat, voting was initially open only to the civil servants, soldiers and police behind closed doors before opening them to the general public.
Eight days after U.S. Marines and Afghan security forces launched an offensive against the Taliban in the village of Dahaneh, an Afghan National Army soldier casts his provincial and presidential votes at a polling place in the village Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Taliban threats had made voter registration impossible before the offensive.
An Afghan man studies his ballot before marking it at a polling station in a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans voted under the shadow of Taliban threats of violence Thursday to choose their next president for a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government nearly eight years after the U.S.-led invasion.
Afghan election official Abdul Hakim Barak directs Ghulam Hussin Haidari to the ballot boxes in the village of Dahaneh, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Because of a suicide bomb threat, voting was initially open only to the civil servants, soldiers and police behind closed doors before opening them to the general public.
Afghan women search for their favorite candidates at a polling station in Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009.
An Afghan man studies his ballot before marking it at a polling station in a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. Afghans voted under the shadow of Taliban threats of violence Thursday to choose their next president for a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government nearly eight years after the U.S.-led invasion.
An Afghan woman searches to find her favorite candidate for voting at a polling station in Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. After 10 hours of voting, including a last-minute, one-hour extension, election workers began to count the millions of ballots cast across the country. Initial results weren't expected until Saturday.