Afghanistan has held its first direct presidential election without the major violence feared by some U.S. coalition officials, but marred by controversy.
Fifteen candidates challenging President Hamid Karzai for the post withdrew in the middle of election day, claiming the vote was fraudulent.
The controversy erupted after some polling stations mistakenly used regular ink, which could be easily washed off, to mark the thumbs of people who had voted. Election officials said the problem was caught quickly and would not invalidate the overall vote.
Later, three police officers were killed in central Uruzgan province when militants attacked a convoy carrying ballot boxes from Saturday's election. Despite the violence, the convoy was able to continue on its way.
Preliminary results are not expected for two or three days. The final outcome will depend on an investigation of the alleged voter fraud.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.