Puzzle of the stay-away voters

"The turnout for the vote in Afghanistan's parliamentary and provincial elections on Sunday is not yet known. But in Kabul and surrounding areas it looked lower than last year.

Hamid Abdullah supervised one of Kabul's largest polling centres during Afghanistan's landmark parliamentary and provincial elections.

Bu he himself decided not to cast his ballot.

"I simply did not find a good candidate... so I am not voting," Mr Abdullah told me at the city's sprawling Idgah mosque, home to 10 polling stations.

The sluggish voting here mirrored Mr Abdullah's sentiments - only 1,000 people, including 100 women, had cast their ballots in the first seven hours of voting, even though the mosque was geared up to deal with 6,000 voters.

"I personally feel that the turnout is low because people don't like the candidates. Anybody and everybody is vying for political power," said Mr Abdullah."
BBC