The commission worked intensively through the weekend and until 4 a.m. Sunday to reach the almost complete results, according to an election commission official, a statement that indicated that, up until the last minute, the commission planned to make the announcement on Sunday.

At stake is the makeup of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan Parliament and the only body with the power to question the policies of President Hamid Karzai. The lower house must approve his ministers and pass and reject laws proposed by the president and his ministers, and may demand explanations of government policies.

Although Mr. Karzai and his inner circle backed a number of candidates, it is so far unclear whether they did well enough to guarantee him the 130 seats he sought  enough to be sure of a majority on important issues. The main opposition to the president, Abdullah Abdullah’s Coalition for Hope and Change, is watching the moves of Mr. Karzai’s candidates closely to be sure they do not displace any of the coalition’s candidates. One of the movement’s organizers, Ahmad Wali Massoud, said that, barring last minute politicking, his group is all but certain to have 88 seats, enough to wield considerable political power. Mr. Abdullah was the main election challenger to Mr. Karzai in 2009.

Whether this election turns out to be another embarrassment for the country because of the rampant fraud, as last year’s was, rests on the shoulders of the Independent Election Commission, which is responsible for holding the election and counting the votes, and the Electoral Complaints Commission, which handles accusations against individual candidates.

Last year the former commission was accused of bias toward President Karzai and either overlooking or assisting in the widespread fraud. It was the complaint commission that restored a modicum of integrity by ultimately throwing out more than a million votes in last year’s presidential election. This year, Mr. Karzai is perceived to have weakened the complaint commission by changing its structure so that a majority of members were Afghans rather than international representatives.

It is hard to tell if, in fact, the commission is weaker, since it is still at an early stage of its work. The complaint commission must adjudicate all challenges.