The four main contenders in Afghanistan’s presidential election

Abdullah Abdullah: Abdullah, 48, trained as an ophthalmologist, came to world prominence as foreign minister and spokesman for the Northern Alliance, which helped American-led forces topple the Taliban in 2001. He was a senior aide and confidant to alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massood, who was assassinated just before the Sept. 11 attacks. Abdullah has a Pashtun father, but his main political identity is as a Tajik, the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan’s north. Surveys indicate that after an energetic campaign, Abdullah is in second place with about 25% of the vote. He has suggested that only fraud on the part of Karzai’s backers could deprive him of victory.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ramazan Bashardost: A lawmaker and former Cabinet minister, Bashardost, 43, is a self-styled populist and ascetic whose campaign office is a tent pitched outside parliament. He refrains from eating meat in what he says is a statement of solidarity with Afghanistan’s poor. He is a member of the ethnic Hazara minority, a Shiite Muslim group that makes up about 10% of the country’s population. He was a near-unknown at the campaign’s outset, but polls suggest he now has the backing of about 10% of the electorate.  (Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)

Ashraf Ghani: An urbane, Western-educated technocrat, Ghani, 60, has spent much of his adult life in exile. He served as Afghanistan’s finance minister, but broke with Karzai and left the government in 2004. Like Karzai, he is from a prominent Pashtun family, and may draw off some of the president’s support from the ethnic group they have in common. He is a former ranking World Bank official, university professor and special advisor to the United Nations. Ghani is well respected by Western officials, and American political strategist James Carville advised his campaign, but surveys have put his support only in the 6% range.  (Massoud Hossaini / AFP/Getty Images)