Facing violence and threats from the Taliban, Afghan voters still turn out

(Image credit: AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi)

last updated 8 January 2015

Following a dozen years under Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's leadership, Afghan voters turned out at the polls on Saturday to elect the first president of the post-American era in their country.

U.S. troops were ordered to remain out of sight throughout the voting, so that the process would truly be "Afghan-owned," The Washington Post reported. While there were some incidents of violence — not to mention threats from the Taliban to stay home —Afghan voters arrived to cast their ballots anyways, in such high numbers that some polling stations ran out of ballots.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

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