The overall counting process of the first presidential elections in Afghanistan should be wrapped up by the end of the day, spokesman for the Afghan-UN Joint Electoral Management Body said Tuesday morning Kabul.

All the votes except certain amount of ballots cast by voters in northeastern Badakhshan province have been tallied and registered, said the spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The whole process should be finished by the end of the day," he added.

Statistics published by JEMB on its webside at 9:05 am Tuesday show that a total of 97.7 percent out of a possible 8.13 million ballot have been counted, with incumbent President Hamid Karzai clinched 4,364,454, or 55.4 percent, putting him on the winner's trail leading to another five year's term. His competitor, former Education Minister Yunus Qanooni, stood second with 1,282,677 or 16.3 percent. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq ranked third on 913,363 or 11.6 percent, and trailed by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum on 799,288 or 10.1 percent.

Source: Xinhua