At stake in this election:

• The office of the President of Afghanistan*.

The election was originally scheduled for 20 April 2019, but has been pushed back twice.

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ashraf GHANI[1]
• Head of Government: President Ashraf GHANI
• Assembly: Afghanistan has a bicameral National Assembly (Jirga) consisting of the House of Elders (Meshrano Jirga) with 102 seats and the House of People (Wolesi Jirga) with 249 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The president is elected by an absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a five-year term. Vice presidential candidates are appointed by the president then elected by direct popular vote.[2]
• The House of Elders (Meshrano Jirga) has 102 members: 34 elected by regional legislatures, 34 elected by regional legislatures for shorter terms, and 34 elected by the president[3].
• The House of People (Wolesi Jirga) is elected through the single non-transferable voting (SNTV) system[4].

Main candidates in the election[5]:

There are 16 candidates:

• Ashraf GHANI (Incumbent President)
  • Party: Independent
  • Running Mates: Amrullah SALEH and Sarwar DANISH
• Abdul Latif PEDRAM (Member of the Parliament)
  • Party: National Congress Party of Afghanistan / حزب کنگره ملی افغانستان
  • Running Mates: Ehsanullah HAIDARI and Mohammad Sadeq WARDAK
• Mohammad Ibrahim ALOKOZAI
  • Coalition: Afghanistan National Consensus
  • Running Mates: Khadija GHAZNAWI and Sayyed Same KAYANI
• Ghulam Farouq Nejrabi
  • Party: Hezb-e-Istiqlal-e-Afghanistan
  • Running Mates: SHARIFULLAH and Mohammad Sharif BABAKARKHEL
• Faramarz Tamanna (Former Director General of the Center for Strategic Studies)
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Sayyed Qias SAIDI and Mohammad Amin RESHADAT
• Shaida Mohammad Abdali (Ambassador to India)
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Abdul Basir SALANGI and Zulfiqar OMID
• Nur Rahman Liwal
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Abdul Hadi ZUL-HEKMAT and Mohammad Yahya WYAR
• Enayatullah Hafiz
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Jannat Khan Fahim CHAKARI and Abdul Jamil SHIRANI
• Mohammad Shohab Hakimi
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Nur ul-Habib HASIR and Abdul Ali SARABI
• Ahmad Wali Massoud
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates:  Farida MOHMAND and Latif NAZARI
• Mohammad Hakim Tursun
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Murad Ali MURAD and Massuda JALAL
• Rahmatullah Nabil (Former Head of the National Directorate of Security)
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Murad Ali MURAD and Massuda JALAL
• Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (Former Prime Minister)
  • Political Party: Hezb-e Islami
  • Running Mates: Fazl ul-Hadi WAZIN and Hafiz ul-Rahman NAQI
• Nurullah Jalili
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Khalil ROMAN and Cheragh Ali CHERAGH
• Abdullah Abdullah (Incumbent Chief Executive)
  • Party: Jamiat-e Islami
  • Running Mates: Enayatullah Babur FARAHMAND and Asadullah SADATI
• Nur ul-Haq Ulumi (Former Minister of Interior)
  • Party: N/A
  • Running Mates: Bashir BEZHAN and Mohammad Naim GHAYUR

* Former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasul withdrew his candidacy on August 6 in favor of Ashraf Ghani[6].

** Mohammad Hanif Atmar (Former National Security Adviser and Minister of Interior suspended his campaign due to the poor security situation and the ongoing peace process[7].

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 34,940,837 (July 2018 est.)[8]
• Registered Voters: 8,834,708 (2019)[9]

• Women: 3,031,136
• Men: 5,632,395

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 17,236,912[10]
• Is Afghanistan a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (14 August 1980)
• Has Afghanistan ratified CEDAW: Yes (5 March 2003)
• Gender Quota: Yes
• Female candidates in this election: 0
• Number of Female Parliamentarians: 84[11]

• Wolesi Jirga / House of the People: 68 (27%)
• Meshrano Jirga / House of Elders: 16 (16%)

• Human Development Index Position: 168[12]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very high[13]

Disability Data:

• Is Afghanistan a signatory to CRPD: No
• Has Afghanistan ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (18 September 2012)
• Population with a disability: 4,884,651 (according to World Health Organization’s 15% estimate)