Twenty-seven candidates have registered for Afghanistan's presidential elections, which will take place on April 5, 2014. Along with the warlords who have dominated Afghanistan's political space for decades, there are also a few technocrats running in next year's ballot. As language and ethnicity play crucial roles in Afghan politics, candidates have tended to select their two vice-presidential picks from different ethnic groups in order to increase their electability. Fawzia Koofi, a famous female politician, has withdrawn from the ballot, leaving only one female presidential candidate. October 6, 2013, was the last day of registration for the presidential nominees. The candidates were required to submit the names of their would-be-vice-presidents, 100,000 signatures of support for their nomination and $20,000. Candidates currently part of President Hamid Karzai's government have resigned from their posts. As soon a the list of the candidates became known, Afghans began to debate the candidates and their VP picks on Twitter: Naseh tweeted: #Afghanistan opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah will certainly be in the #election run-off if he can't win outright. — Naseh (@Mann_Naseh) October 6, 2013 Hafiz Hamim took note of those who had resigned from their ministerial positions with the hope of claiming the presidency. Wahidullah Shahrani is the among the three Afghan ministers who have resigned to run for 2014 presidential elections. — Hafiz Hamim (@HJalalzai) October 6, 2013 Candidate added on Twitter: Afghan Minister of Mines resigned today. He will be running as a Vice President for Qayom Karzai in the coming Presidential Elections. — Candidate (@candidatepaw) October 6, 2013 While Ekram Shinwari flagged the participation of another Karzai regime heavyweight: Gen.Abdul Rahim Wardak former Afghan defense minister also filled his nomination papers for running in upcoming presidential elections today — Ekram Shinwari (@EkramShinwari) October 5, 2013 The candidates’ files will be reviewed and approved by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and a final list will be announced by November 2013. Farzad Lami, an Afghan journalist and blogger, confirmed the number of candidates, tweeting: 27 candidates file nomination papers for #Afghanistan presidential elections scheduled for April 5th, 2014. — Farzad Lami (@FarzadLameh) October 6, 2013 Prominent candidates: VP picks: Wahidullah Shahrani (former minister of mines from Uzbek ethnic group) and Ibrahim Qasemi (a lawmaker from the Hazara ethnic group). VP picks: Mohammad Khan, Hezb-e Islami's deputy leader and Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, an MP, lawmaker and one of the recognized leaders of the Hazara ethnic group. VP picks: Mohammad Ismail Khan, a former water and energy minister and Abdul Wahab Irfan, an Afghan senator. VP picks: General Abdul Rashid Dostum (popular among ethnic Uzbeks) and Sarwar Danish, a former justice minister (supported by former ethnic Hazara warlord and vice president, Karim Khalili,). Vice presidents: Ahmad Zia Massoud, brother of Ahmad Shah Massoud (ethnically Tajik) and Habiba Sarabi, Bamiyan's provincial governor (ethnically Hazara). Karzai the elder, Sayyaf, Rassoul, Abdullah and Ghani are viewed as the strongest candidates in the 2014 vote. (Wiki commons photos remixed by author). Razaq Mamoon, an Afghan journalist and blogger, blogged [Dari] about Dr. Abdullah's incorrect choice of vice presidents. ائتلاف جمیعت اسلامی با بخش حزب اسلامی، و یک بخش حزب وحدت اسلامی ( به رهبری آقای محقق) یک ائتلاف فوق العاده است وچانس پیروزی شان نیز کمتراز بیست وپنج درصد خواهد بود Coalition of Hezb-e Islami and Hezb-e Wahdat (partially led by Mr. Muhaqiq) is an extremely weak alliance and its chance of winning might be less than 25%. As Afghanistan's politics has long been associated with corruption and civil war, its politicians are commonly viewed as being either corrupt, war criminals or both. Samira Hamidi, disappointed with the lack of choices for 2014, posted on Twitter: With the Presidential Candidates and all mixed faces of democrats and extremists, whom to trust and vote?? http://t.co/dhVrR3eYun — Samira Hamidi (@HuriaSamira) October 5, 2013 Will the winner be an alleged war criminal? Much netizen attention was focused on Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's controversial candidacy. Sayyaf, who has been blamed for the death of thousands and credited with training insurgents, may have trouble garnering sufficient support to win the vote, but will be able to fall back on his own constituency of hardcore conservatives.