Margareen, Afghanistan ? Abdul Razaq stands among the menfolk of this dusty village of Afghan nomads and rejoices that democracy has at last come to his country after more than two decades of warfare.

“It means I can finally cast my ballot for Hamid Karzai,” the Kuchi tribesman said Saturday, echoing the words of some 300 other men gathered on a treeless hillside near a clutch of tents and mud-brick homes. They had convened to learn from U.N. education officers how to take part in the Oct. 9 vote. “Karzai is our leader. Karzai is our king,” Razaq and the others repeated.

Each man in this poor village just outside the capital, Kabul, says he will vote for Karzai, the interim president and a fellow Pashtun, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group. They say their elders have told them Karzai is the best choice, and they see no reason to question that.

“In Kuchi society, we listen to our elders. They have said the choice is ours, but that Karzai is the man for the job,” said Mohammed Saeed, a 41-year-old father of seven. “We all know what to do. We will all be voting for Karzai.”

Karzai is the overwhelming favorite to win the vote against 17 challengers, though opponents have complained that Karzai enjoys unfair advantages. The president has the power of incumbency, moves in a U.S. security bubble and is widely perceived to be the favorite of the international community, especially Washington.

“Karzai is well-educated and has the support of the United Nations,” Razaq said. “If someone else is elected president, the people will return to war, and that we cannot accept.”

There is certainly no lack of enthusiasm among many Afghans as their nation prepares for its first ever direct vote for president. The Kuchis, most of them nomadic sheep and goat herders, say they have delayed their annual 100-mile trek by foot to the eastern city of Jalalabad so they will be nearer to home and their voting places.

But there is still little understanding in this tribal society of either the mechanics of voting, or the concept that each vote is an individual decision.

That is one reason why the electoral campaign so far has borne such little resemblance to a Western-style vote. There have been only a handful of rallies and debates and few campaign promises. Instead, candidates have spent most of their time meeting behind the high-walled compounds of Kabul’s political elite with tribal elders who can deliver a guarantee of hundreds of votes.

Kuchi tribesmen listen to explanations about the coming voting system sponsored by Afghanistan's joint electoral management body in Margareen village, about 13 miles east of Kabul, Afghanistan. More than 300 Afghan nomads of the Kuchi tribe gathered on a treeless hillside near a clutch of tents and mud-brick homes to learn from U.N. education officers how to take part next Saturday's vote.

“It’s a bit unrealistic of us to think that it would be like a Western campaign given that they’ve had no experience like this before,” said Grant Kippen, the country director for the National Democratic Institute. “The campaign is actually happening at a tribal level where tribal elders are coming in and interacting with the candidates.”

Election workers and aid groups also have tried to use television and especially radio to reach Afghans in distant places. A traveling theater group was dispatched to perform an election morality tale to clarify the rules.

But the finer points may be lost on a citizenry accustomed to little but war and warlords.

In Margareen, Wakeel Mohammed Ashraf, a green-turbaned Afghan U.N. volunteer, explained the voting procedure to the tribesmen, who had gathered on large plastic tarps for a traditional lunch of rice, beef and potatoes. The women and girls of the village remained in their tents, several hundred yards away, and would receive the same message later.

“There are 18 candidates, and all are good Muslims and fellow Afghans,” Ashraf began. “You should vote for whomever you feel will do the most service to the people and Islam.”

A second volunteer called out the names of the candidates, printed along with their photographs and electoral symbols on a long ballot. Most Afghans are illiterate and will rely on the photographs to make their choice.

“We are very concerned about voting correctly, and we want to learn how to do it,” Razaq said.