Afghanistan’s presidential election got high turnout, but many still voted along ethnic lines --- KABUL — As ballots were tallied Sunday from Afghanistan’s presidential election, many voters hoped that the country was moving into a new era marked by its first democratic handover of power. But early returns in Kabul pointed to the enduring power of ethnic politics. --- The presidential candidates had tried to market themselves as post-ethnic leaders, promoting economic and political reform rather than the kind of sectarianism that fed the civil war in the 1990s. An electoral result that breaks down along ethnic lines could complicate the formation of the next government, requiring negotiations and compromises to create a broad-based coalition. -- Saturday’s election drew a surprisingly large turnout despite threats from the Taliban to disrupt the balloting. At least 23 people were killed on election day and the prior day, mostly soldiers and police officers, the government announced. -- Three more people were killed Sunday, including at least one election worker, when a government vehicle struck a roadside bomb in northern Kunduz province, according to Afghan officials. -- But there were no large-scale attacks in Kabul, and the death toll was lower than many had expected. --- As votes were counted, the country’s electoral complaints commission started processing about 1,000 formal allegations of fraud. The last presidential election, in 2009, was plagued by irregularities, and many Afghans pointed fingers at election staffers thought to be acting on the basis of tribal or ethnic loyalties. -- Afghans have keen memories of the brutal war that raged among ethnically based militias, killing tens of thousands of people and destroying large parts of the capital. -- Eighteen years after it ended, tensions among those groups have diminished. Saturday’s election was celebrated in many quarters as a moment of national unity and collective opposition to the Taliban. But Kabul is still divided into neighborhoods reflecting the country’s largest ethnic groups. --- In several predominantly Tajik neighborhoods, for example, the ethnic Tajik presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, was the clear winner based on preliminary results. He received about 75 percent of the vote, out of a total of about 3,000 ballots cast at four polling stations. Ashraf Ghani, who is a Pashtun, thought to be Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, was the second-highest vote-getter, receiving about 18 percent. -- In several Pashtun neighborhoods, the results were reversed, with Ghani winning about three-quarters of the vote. -- In ethnic Hazara neighborhoods, Abdullah was the overwhelming winner. His vice- presidential pick, Mohammad Mohaqiq, is a Hazara warlord. -- “Our whole people voted for Abdullah because of Mohaqiq,” said Mahram Ali, 48, a Hazara. “We want a change in leadership from Pashtun to Tajik — and afterwards, our turn will arrive.” -- The lopsided results are based on a fraction of preliminary tallies posted outside polling centers, but they paint a picture of a trend expected to emerge across the country as votes are counted over the coming weeks. --- “Pashtuns vote for Pashtuns,” said Nangullah, a resident of Kabul’s Arzan Qemat neighborhood, where about 90 percent of the community is Pashtun and where Ghani won an overwhelming number of the votes. --- Although Karzai’s presidency was criticized for corruption and poor relations with Washington, he proved adept at building a coalition with strongmen from across Afghanistan’s ethnic spectrum. For more than a decade, that approach kept ethnic flare-ups to a minimum. In universities and in some ministries, an ethnically diverse meritocracy appeared to take form. - More, Kevin Sieff, - Washingtonpost, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/afghanistans-presidential-election-got-high-turnout-but-many-still-voted-along-ethnic-lines/2014/04/06/6b3a6a1e-bdb6-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html