An Afghan woman examines posters for presidential candidates on a wall in the center of Kabul on Monday, September 20. The poster on the left shows current President Hamid Karzai. (Photo: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

September 28—Millions of Afghans have registered to vote in their nation's first democratic presidential election scheduled for October 9. But human rights groups warn that the election might not be so democratic.

That's because warlords across the nation want to bully Afghans into voting for their candidates. Human Rights Watch, which keeps an eye on many elections, found that many candidates and voters were being threatened.

"In most parts of the country Afghans told Human Rights Watch that they are primarily afraid of the local factional leaders and military commanders," read the report.

The U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, agrees that there are problems ahead for Afghan democracy, but believes that the country is moving in the right direction.

The warlords' "days are numbered," said Khalilzad. "They are forces of the past. If they want to be part of the future of Afghanistan, they will have to reform."

Hamid Karzai, the current President, is expected to win against a field of 17 other candidates in the upcoming election. Karzai became the temporary President of Afghanistan in December 2001. He has President Bush's full support, but he has little power outside the Afghan capital of Kabul, and has survived several assassination attempts.