An Afghan police officer stands guard outside a hospital after a suicide bomber attacked a political rally in Jalalabad, in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, on Oct. 2, 2018.
For Afghanistan, the upcoming parliamentary elections will be a key test on its war-ravaged path to democracy. On Oct. 20, the South Asian country will elect members for most of the seats in the lower house of parliament. The polls were originally scheduled for 2015 but have been repeatedly delayed due to the inability of the National Unity Government between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to implement key electoral reforms . Because of this failure and other infighting, these elections and their aftermath will probably complicate the presidential elections set for April 2019. It is almost certain that candidates will contest the outcomes, and allegations of fraud will follow, all while the country remains at war. Voting and Security This election will be Afghanistan's third parliamentary contest since 2004.
