| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Afghanistan may have a 2nd round election |
| 2009-09-17 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Afghan election commission begins preparations for a second round of voting if incumbent Hamid Karzai's share of votes in the controversial election falls below 50%. Afghan election officials began logistical preparations on Wednesday for a second round of voting, Guardian reports. Based on the report, the second round will take place in five weeks, only if Karzai's share of the vote, currently at 54%, falls below the required 50% mark. The Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission says it will recount 10 percent of the ballots of polling stations used in the August 20 presidential elections. The UN-backed commission said Tuesday that it had found clear and convincing evidence of vote fraud at these locations. However, if fraud investigations cause Karzai's figure to drop below 50 percent, he would have to go to compete against Abdullah in a second round election. The developments come as EU election observation mission said that around one and a half million votes cast in Afghanistan's presidential polls last month could be fraudulent. The EU mission further claims that 1.1 million of the votes cast for the incumbent president Karzai, as well as 300 thousand others cast in favor of his main rival Abdullah Abdullah, are suspicious. Another one hundred thousand suspicious votes were cast for other candidates. This is while Karzai's campaign team has strongly condemned as "irresponsible" claims by EU monitors about the extent of election fraud. Final, uncertified count for the Afghan presidential election indicated a Karzai Victory on Wednesday. The results showed Karzai gaining more than 54 percent of the vote and Abdullah winning less than 28 percent. The August 20 election has been overshadowed by allegations of widespread fraud threatening to undermine the final outcome. The US and the European Union, who appear to favor an Abdullah victory, have insisted on election fraud and the need for a second-round vote since early after the general election. Afghan elections officials, however, have stood their ground, countering that reports of fraud are thoroughly investigated and considered but foreign interference on the matter will not be tolerated. |
| Posted by:Fred |