The month-long campaign for Afghanistan's first-ever direct presidential election opened today.
Incumbent President Hamid Karzai, who has the strong backing of the United States and the West, is seen as favorite to win the October 9th poll, but rivals may force him into a run-off.
There are 18 candidates for the October vote, but the field is expected to be whittled down as the weakest candidates form alliances.
Mr Karzai's closest challenger appears to be former education minister Mr Yunus Qanuni, a leading member of the Northern Alliance, the grouping of ethnic minority factions that united against the Taliban militia and helped overthrow it in 2001.
Despite Afghanistan's conservative Islamic values, women account for more than 41 per cent of registered voters, and there is one female candidate, Ms Massouda Jalal, a doctor who has attracted much media attention but little following.
Both the presidential and parliamentary polls were due to be held last June, but were delayed due to security and logistical concerns. Parliamentary elections were put off until next April because resources are overstretched.
More than 10.5 million of a population of between 25 million and 28 million have registered to vote, far surpassing earlier expectations but raising allegations of multiple registrations.
The outcome of the poll will be a major test of US-led nation-building efforts since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.
Taliban guerrillas have vowed to disrupt the UN-sponsored polls, which President George W. Bush hopes to see go smoothly ahead of his own election show-down in early November.