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Despite a fresh warning by the Taliban on Saturday asking Afghans to boycott next month's presidential election run-off, both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and rival Abdullah Abdullah launched the second round of their campaigns, the first step towards bringing resolution to a presidential election mired in fraud and controversy. But will Afghans overcome their suspicions and security fears in order to turn out in enough numbers to bestow legitimacy on this next round?

Last week, exactly two months after Afghans first went to the polls on August 20, Karzai announced that since no one candidate, out of a field of 41, had received 50% of the vote, the election would go to a second round between the two highest vote earners. An initial tally of the votes put Karzai at...