voting had resulted, as well as isolated reports of intimidation and campaigning at the polling centres. Journalist Christian Parenti claimed that many people in Afghanistan were in possession of three or four photographic ID cards. He himself, not an Afghan citizen, could have easily voted. "One of the parties gave me two valid voting cards," he said "that I could add my photograph to and I could have voted if I wanted to." Other problems reported by Parenti included lack of pens in polling places, not having enough ballots, and differences in closing times of voting stations. The documentary film "God's Open Hand" by Ghost Studios exposes voter fraud. However, the film mainly focuses on the hopes and dreams of the Afghan people on their first ever Presidential elections. In September 2009, Hamid Karzai, downplaying the significance of the fraud in the 2009 presidential election, said "there was fraud in 2004" as well. On September 3, 2009, when envoys from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and other Western nations met in Paris to discuss the recent 2009 Afghan election, UN Special Representative in Afghanistan Kai Eide said that the 2009 Afghan presidential election, widely characterized by rampant fraud and intimidation, "was a better election than five years ago." Violence Rebels loyal to the former Taliban leadership had vowed to disrupt the election, accusing the United States moving to dominate the region. During the election process, five Afghan National Army soldiers died in skirmishes and due to landmines. 15 staff of the Joint Electoral Management Body were killed and a further 46 injured in various attacks. 2 International sub-contractors working in Nuristan in support of the electoral process were also killed. Results References External links BBC coverage, including a picture of the ballot form Coverage of last-minute campaigning Profile of Afghan political situation A wide collection of articles on the election Official site of election monitoring organisation, with full list of candidates including photos and icons Complete list and biographies of candidates A Democracy Is Born: An Insider's Account of the Battle Against Terrorism in Afghanistan A Western-style election with Afghan attributes, eyewitness account Afghanistan Presidential elections in Afghanistan Presidential election Hamid Karzai History of Afghanistan (1992–present) October 2004 events in Asia Elections in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan