Election day in Afghanistan largely peaceful --- KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghans braved the rain, muddy streets and possible attacks by militants to head to the polls Saturday, voting in what turned out to be a mostly peaceful election that marks the first transfer of presidential power since the Taliban fell in 2001. -- In defiance of the threats that have loomed over the election since early this year, many voters said going to the polls was their duty. -- "If you're not voting, you're not Afghan," said Mohammad Hamid, 27, a recent MBA graduate from Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, who cut short graduation celebrations to fly home from Dubai to vote. -- Hamid says he had been proudly carrying his voter registration card for the past three months, showing it to friends and neighbors and telling them how to register at one of the more than 6,000 polling stations across the country. -- "The election is the most important thing for the current situation in Afghanistan," he said, adding he was not scared to go to the polls and would go even if that meant risking his life. "I will vote for my future." -- The election is set against a backdrop of U.S. troop withdrawal and looming cuts to foreign aid, which have propped up the country. There are eight presidential candidates and three front-runners — Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, Zalmai Rassoul, Abdullah Abdullah — and no one is sure who will win. -- A few hours after the polls closed on Saturday evening, the Independent Election Commission's chairman, Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, told reporters that election officials are ready to manage a second round of voting. The runoff will most likely be held on May 28. - USAToday, at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/05/afghanistan-elections/7343425/