While Afghanistan's top two presidential candidates, Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, spar over who came out ahead in preliminary exit polls, Afghan women's rights activists are hoping the results show higher voter turnout among women. Despite extremist threats, deteriorating security and a shortage of female poll workers, women appear to be gaining ground in politics, thanks to general disillusionment with the current leadership and the efforts of several grass-roots organizations. Abeda Osman, for her part, sees small signs of hope. Osman is a former government commissioner, consultant and activist who has spent much of the last six years working with various nonprofit groups in her native Afghanistan. Most recently, she served as a campaign consultant in coordination with the Afghan Women’s Network.