BicycleMark reports from the Afghan elections

The facts about today's Parliamentary Election here in Afghanistan are out there floating around the internet. Along with the facts comes the analysis and the declarations, everyone wants to draw a clear conclusion right now, which fits neatly into an evening headline or a blog post.

The big print reads "Kabul Slammed By Rockets" which is an exaggeration, it was actually a calm and good day in Kabul. Other headlines read "Low Turnout for Afghan Elections", yet the actual rate is 30% of the electorate turned out, 1.68 million Afghan citizens. Of course there is also the "Widespread Fraud" that has been reported as rampant, I actually wouldn't argue that this is an exaggeration, I'd simply point out that fraud is a tradition in democracies throughout the world, welcome to the club Afghanistan.

Nothing I can say, no facts that I can present, no first-hand observations that I can share are likely to change your mind. A glance at the comments to this post or the headlines in any newspaper shows that the verdict was reached before the votes have even been counted. So just ignore me when I tell you today's election in Afghanistan did take place, and while there was violence and a long list of problems, there were also millions of people participating in a democratic process.

Oh and before the insults start rolling in, here are a few photo's courtesy of my friends at Democracy International: