Afghans fear violence, fraud as presidential vote looms Ordinary Afghans are divided on whether to defy the Taliban's threats and cast their ballots in a presidential election this week, and even those who are willing to vote fear the poll will be tainted by fraud.\\nThere are 18 candidates competing for the presidency including incumbent president Ashraf Ghani, and his chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. . SEE ALSO VIDEO 1KJ5FP.