Afghan presidential hopeful Abdullah Abdullah is leading the poll count with 41.9 percent, election officials have said, as ten percent of the total votes have been counted.
Early results from 26 provinces show a tight race between Abdullah, a former foreign minister, and Ashraf Ghani, who has received 37.6 percent.
"These figures are preliminary and might change," said Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, the head of the Independent Election Commission at a press conference on Sunday.
Officials have counted over 500 thousand votes, comprising an even distribution of 10 percent of votes cast in each province, Nuristani added.
The gap between Abdullah and Ghani stands at over 20,000 votes.
The other six candidates won less than 10 percent combined, early results show.
Held in the shadow of threats by the Taliban, the elections have seen a high turnout of nearly 60 percent among 12 million eligible voters.
Full preliminary results are due on April 24.
By Zubair Babakarkhail
englishnews@aa.com.tr
