TEHRAN, Oct. 20 (MNA) – Some 8.8 million Afghans are expected to vote on Saturday in the country's parliamentary elections as tens of thousands of forces fan out across the country to protect 21,000 polling stations.

The vote comes amid a particularly vicious campaign by the Taliban and ISIL group, which have been staging near-daily attacks. On the eve of the balloting, voting in Kandahar province was postponed for a week, following a deadly attack on Thursday that killed at least two senior provincial officials, including its powerful police chief. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in Afghanistan on 15 October 2016, to elect members of the House of the People, but were postponed to 7 July 2018 and then again to 20 October 2018. Much of the prelude to the election has focused on the debate over reforming Afghanistan's electoral laws. The current system is one of single non-transferable vote.

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