afghans had three main voices, abdullah abdullah, ashraf ghani ahmadzai, and zalmai rassoul. we probably won't know who has won for several weeks. as bernard smith reports, this is a proud day for many afghans. >> the queue started forming well before kabul's polling stations opened. despite the taliban threats to target the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000-year history it marks the first democratic transfer of power. people here are eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the threat from the taliban. i don't have a threat from taliban. >> 12 million people were eligible to vote. in parts of the country polling stations were closed, where the taliban held sway. this is the scene across the country, people queue up after going through a security check. they dip their finger in indelible ink, go in to the booth to cast their vote and ballot. the blue one is for the presidential election, the green for the provincial election. the presidential vote is easy. the provincial elections, they get six pages, each like this. there are 400 candidates in

he is not close to abdullah abdullah, or to ashraf ghani ahmadzai. if zalmai rassoul gets in it would be a continuity of the hamid karzai administration. >> let's talk about the taliban. the fact that they did not laux a large-scale -- launch a large-scale attack today, despite launching successful attacks in recent weeks - what do you make of that? >> the afghan security forces were doing their job well. you know, the kind of thing they would do is try to preposition car bombs near polling stations. well, if the security forcers are good, they'll make is sweep and make sure there isn't anything like that. the taliban were prevented from successful attacks. on the whole. there were some. >> is this a sign that the afghan security forces are becoming increasingly more ready to take over security for the country? >> yes, i think it's certainly got to be taken as a sign. today has to be taken as a sign that the security forces are getting better. i don't think they could have provided this kind of security by themselves in the last election. >> juan col

the other two are zalmai rassoul, and ashraf ghani ahmadzai. one will have to win 50% of the vote to avoid the run-off. the taliban told civilians they'll be targeted if they try to vote. there are plenty ignoring the warning. there's effort to minimise the risk of fraud. ballot boxes are sealed and coded and tracked. eat voter dips their finger in ink so they don't vote again. >> four weeks after malaysian airlines flight mh370 vanished. there's new hope that the jot may be found. a chinese ship reportedly detected a signal matching the frequency of the black box. it was found off the coast of az's west coast. the signal or a ping was detected this morning. three members of the ship's crew heard it but did not have time to record it. it is yet to be confirmed as coming from the flight recorder. experts say the black box's batteries last for about 30 days. >> rallies across the country protesting washington's policy. it's called too many. this month is the obama administration's 2 millionth deportation. live to atlanta, where a protest is takin

zalmai rassoul is another, and ashraf ghani ahmadzai. kabul was locked down as part of a nation-wide security operation mobilizing 400 security personal. that helped to bring the number of attacks to afghanistan. ballot counting started since polls closed. there are aless of fraud being made. that will test the independence of the election commission. >> complaints could be handled, because we don't know how the election and complants commission will act during the past experience. it remains to act whether it is sin sorely or in favour -- sincerely or in favour of a candidate. the commission is not expected to announce preliminary results for four to five days. this was never expected to be a poll free of fraud, but how much there is will determine whether afghans except the commission's decision on the winner. >> with our weeks after malaysia airlines flight mh370 vanished there's new hope that the jet will be found. a signal matching the frequency of the black box was detected. it matches the area being searched, about 1,000 miles off

another is ashraf ghani ahmadzai, a formier finance minister and world bank figures. and zalmai rassoul, serving as foreign minister, and has been one of hamid karzai's closestal lies. >> well, many afghan came out to vote, despite the threat of violence. here is what some had to say? >> i voted for the welfare of my country, the future and the rebuilding. i'm happy, and now i'm going back. >> as an afghan woman, i've come to cast my vote. i ask all afghan women to come and vote. >> the police are providing us with security. happily we have dom cast our votes. >> if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round must be held between the two top contenders. results will not be known until mid may. the new president is unlikely to be in place before july and august. there are an estimated 12 million voters, and around 12 million voter registration cards are in circulation, raising concerns about fraud. there's 6,800 centres. for many casting a vote, it was hours travelling. >> let's go bernard smith, standing by in kabul. how is the big day shaping up? >> e

the grant runner is ashraf ghani ahmadzai. he used to be the finance minister. he worked for the world bank for over a decade. then there's zalmai rassoul, the top pick of outgoing president of hamid karzai. his running mate is a woman. he's unmarried, which is unusual for a politician in afghanistan. then there's abdullah abdullah. he ran for president back in 2009, finishing is distant second to hamid karzai. he is a former eye doctor. >> let's talk about zalmai rassoul, he's believed to be hamid karzai's top pick. jane ferguson takes a look at what his victory could mean. >> even those hoping to run this country can't travel its roads. this presidential candidate's helicopter lands at a spot which is a 2-hour drive from the capital, a journey considered too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruption linked to the government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. >> yo

this is the front runner ashraf ghani ahmadzai - he's somewhere around here, we saw him a second ago - there he is. he used to be the finance minister and worked for the world bank for a decade. then there's zalmai rassoul, the top pick of hamid karzai. his running mate is a woman. and abdullah abdullah, karzai's former minister, but ran against him and lost. joining us to discuss this is a senior staff writer at al jazeera. he has years of experience covering afghanistan, and sara nice, with the international rescue committee. they are on set with us. a lot of people are looking to this election in afghanistan, claiming a victory, patting themselves on the back. there's not a lot of violence. is this a huge step forward for democracy in afghanistan? >> we have been working with afghan community for 30 years. the fear is that there has been elections, military and international forces are drawing down, maybe it's time to wash our hands of afghanistan. >> that is the thought, and they look at the election as maybe it is time to pull away. >> there are massive needs in the country. the

ashraf ghani ahmadzai's team thinks their man is heading to the palace with more than 60%. only zalmai rassoul is suggesting no one got more than 50%, meaning a run off is necessary, and he says he has enough votes to be one of the two. >> when the polls closed, ballots counted and results published on the wall. only when the election commission has 5% of the vote, will it announce the initial estimation of who won the presidential election. >> that provisional calculation should be released within the next few days. >> seb aftion younger is an author and war correspondent. he's the author of "war", and "estreppo", he joined me earlier and i asked what he thought was next for afghanistan? >> ironically, on 9/11 our tragedy brought some stability to that country. the taliban were knocked over very easily, and quite a period of stability started after 9/11. i don't think anyone could have imagined a relatively peaceful successful election like they had. if you go back 10-15 years, it would be inconceivable to a lot of people. >> they held elections, who should be in power the

the frontrunners ashraf ghani ahmadzai used to be the finance minister, and holds a ph.d. from columbia and worked for the world bank for more than a record. then there's rousz are, the top -- rousz , the top -- zalmai rassoul, the top specific. he was the finance minister and unmarried. which is unusual for a minister. >> abdullah abdullah ran in 2009 but finished a distant second to hamid karzai. he was a former eye doctor. he has been the foreign minister. >> let's talk about zalmai rassoul. he's the one considered to be most like hamid karzai. jane ferguson looks at what his victory could mean. >> each those hoping to run this country can't travel by road. the presidential helicopter lands at a spot which is a 2-hour drive from the capital, a journey too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruptionlinged to the government -- corruption linked to the government. >> the hamid karzai government will be well-known for a long time for horrendous levels

this time it's a big rally for ashraf ghani ahmadzai, former finance minister and world bank officialt in this peshtune stronghold, he's emphasizing his tribal credentials. he's saying he can bring peace to an area that's seen the worst fighting. but why would the taliban want to talk? >> the reason they've talked to us is the context is different. the national forces are not here in the kind of numbers that made them doubtful that they will ever leave. we have succeeded at the military transition. we have brought about a massive participation of the public in this election. democratic process is gaining ground and working. so the mandate that we will have is a very different mandate. >> reporter: we drive north of kabul to a rally for a candidate who believes the best people to run afghanistan are the men who fought its wars. abdul rasul sayaf is an islamist scholar, one of the most notorious warlords. in the past decade he's been useful to the west. in this election he's even talking about women's rights. >> how is the campaign going? sxwl i will meet you. >> reporter: sayaf only mo

the front runner is ashraf ghani ahmadzai, the finance minister and holds a ph.d. from colombus university. he worked for the west bank for a decade. then there's zalmai rassoul, his running mate is a woman. he is unmarried which is unusual. then there's abdullah abdullah, running in 2009, and finishing a distant second. he was a former eye during. let's talk about zalmai rassoul. he's the one believed to be darz's top pick. we have a look at what his fict ci can mean -- victory can mean. >> those that run the country can't travel the roads. this presidential helicopter lands at a spot that is a 2-hour drive from the capital, a journey too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister, zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. the support could come with a legacy of corruption linked to the government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. you were part of that government. what will you do differently? >> i think i - first of all, i have not been involved in corruption issues. i

. >> abdullah abdullah is a front runner, zalmai rassoul and ashraf ghani ahmadzai are the other two. one will have to win 50% of the vote to avoid a run off. the taliban told civilians they'll be targeted if they try to vote. plenty are ignoring the warning. there has been significant effort to minimise the fraud. ballot boxes are sealed, barcoded and tracked. each voter dips their finger in indelible ink. av gaps need a -- afghans need a proceed vote. >> more than a million afghan refugees live across the border in afghanistan. they are upset for not being allowed to vote. we go to a refugee champ in peshawar. >> it's another day of life at the refugee camp on the outskirts of peshawar city. movement refugees who have been living in the country for decades will not be able to take part in a crucial general election in afghanistan. now, in 2004, most people here in the camps did vote. it was that crucial vote which helped president hamid karzai win the election in afghanistan, but this time when a president hands over power to a newly elected president, the outgoing refugees will not