Afghan polling stations close after heavy turnout

Afghan men line up for registration process before they cast their votes at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 5, 2014. Afghans flocked to 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.
Afghan men line up for registration process before they cast their votes at a polling station in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, April 5, 2014. Afghans flocked to 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.

— Afghan polling stations have closed after nearly 10 hours of voting that saw a massive turnout, including in some of the most dangerous areas of the country.

Electoral workers wearing blue vests with the logo of the Independent Election Commission pulled the paper ballots out of boxes and carefully showed them in footage shown live on national television Saturday.

Partial results are expected as soon as Sunday.

Saturday's vote was a sharp contrast from Afghanistan's 2009 election, which was marred by widespread allegations of vote-rigging that tarnished President Hamid Karzai's re-election.

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