Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- Afghanistan 's presidential election will go to a second round after no one candidate garnered more than 50 % of the vote , the country 's election commission said Saturday . The top two vote-getters , former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani , will be in a runoff slated for June 7 , said Independent Election Commission head Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani . `` I think the elections went pretty good , we are satisfied with it and with the results , '' Nuristani said on state television . Seven million Afghans went to the polls on April 5 to choose a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai . It will be the country 's first democratic transfer of presidential power . The preliminary results were announced Saturday , showing Abdullah with 45 % of the votes and Ghani with 32 % . Zalmai Rasoul 's presidential hopes ended with a third place finish with 12 % of the vote . Abdullah and Ghani were seen as the front-runners going into the April 5 ballot . Abdullah , who is associated with the Tajik ethnic group , is partnered with Mohammad Mohaqeq , a leader of the Hazara ethnic group . He also has a Pashtun on the ticket . An eye doctor by training , Abdullah became Afghanistan 's foreign minister under Karzai . He ran against him in 2009 but dropped out to protest what he saw as large-scale voter fraud . He is considered to be relatively liberal and has made at least one public statement in support of women 's rights . Ghani , who earned his doctorate at Columbia University in the United States , is from the Pashtun ethnic group . His running mate is Abdul Rashid Dostum , a leader of the Uzbek ethnic group . Ghani was the country 's finance minister under Karzai . Security will be a key issue for whoever is elected president . A series of deadly attacks marked the run-up to the vote , and Kabul was again rocked by violence Thursday when at least three American medical workers in the capital were shot by a policeman guarding a hospital . NATO troops are scheduled to draw down from Afghanistan by the end of the year . Karzai , who is constitutionally required to step down after two terms in office , has refused to sign an agreement to keep international forces in Afghanistan , also known as the Status of Forces Agreement . But the two leading presidential candidates have said they would sign it .
Afghanistan 's presidential election will go to a second round . Electoral commission says final results will be released May 14 . It will be the country 's first democratic transfer of presidential power .