Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai came in first in a new poll conducted by Glevum Associates, with 29 percent support, followed by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah with 25 percent and Qayum Karzai with 8 percent at third place.
An overwhelmingly majority of the respondents, as much as 85 percent, also said that President Hamid Karzai's endorsement of a candidate would not affect their decisions.
This is the first time that Ahmadzai has made it to the top of the list in an opinion poll.
Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf with 6 percent placed at fourth, with Abdul Rahim Wardak at 5 percent, Gul Agha Sherzoi at 4 percent, Qutbuddin Helal at 2 percent, and Daoud Sultanzoi and Muhammad Nader Naeem at 1 percent each. Hedayat Amin Arsala received 0 percent in this opinion poll.
This opinion poll is gathered from 2,148 individuals from all over Afghanistan, and consisted of 57 percent men and 43 percent female.
But of all the respondents, 11 percent indicated that they are still unsure who to vote for and 2 percent didn't provide an answer.
Most of Ahmadzai's supporters were from the North and East. Apparently, his support has increased with his collaboration with General Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek leader from the North.
Abdullah's has most of his support from the North and least from the South, the opposite of Qayoum Karzai.
Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf had the least amount of support in the North and most in the west, likely due to the presence of Ismael Khan, a Jihadi leader from the West, on his ticket.
Close to 50 percent of the respondents demanded the future president consider security at the top of his agenda while 17 percent consider the economy more important and 6 percent said education. Only 1 percent said Sharia Law should be the top priority.
61 percent of the respondents said that they would vote for someone who strikes a deal with the Taliban.
Meanwhile, 71 percent support a security deal with the United States.
Close to half of the respondents said that they would vote for someone with good relations with Pakistan.
Respondents from the South mostly emphasized talks with the Taliban, while the respondents from the North mostly favor good relations with the United States.
A majority of the respondents were confident in the ability of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to hold a transparent election.
According to the poll, 86 percent said that holding elections was an Islamic act while 2 percent called it un-Islamic.
96 percent of the respondents consider the selection of the future leader to be important, but 89 percent said that they would not vote for someone with a record of corruption and 78 percent said that they wouldn't vote for those who have violated human rights.