Significant fraud occurred in the 2004 presidential election, even though it did not attract the level of international attention as the fraud in the 2009 presidential election.

On election day there were several claims that the ink used to mark voters could be easily removed and that multiple 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."
Significant fraud occurred in the 2004 presidential election, even though it did not attract the level of international attention as the fraud in the 2009 presidential election.
On election day there were several claims that the ink used to mark voters could be easily removed and that multiple 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."
2004 Afghan presidential election