KABUL - The top candidates in Thursday's presidential elections in Afghanistan have voted early, in an effort to motivate the electorate to show up at the polls.

Incumbent president and front-runner Hamid Karzai was the first to exercise his franchise at 7.30am. at a boy's high school. More than 27,000 polling stations opened across the country at 7am.

After voting, Karzai urged the nearly 15 million eligible voters to go to the polls: "I request my dear countrymen to come out and cast their vote to decide their future."

Former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah, who is Karzai's closest competitor according to some opinion polls, also voted along with his family at around 9am at Naderia High School, close to his residence in Kabul's Karte Parwan.

Among other contenders, former finance minister, Dr Ashraf Ghani casted his vote at Kabul's Habibia High school at 8.40am, while another indepedent candidate Dr Ramzan Bashardost, also voted earlier in the morning.

By Aditya Mehta, UNAMA