FRAUD IN Afghanistan’s presidential election may have compromised as many as one in five ballots, a UN official warned yesterday, compounding fears that ballot-stuffing, intimidation and other irregularities could have a decisive impact on the vote.
Afghanistan’s election commission sought to play down fears that vote-rigging would decide the outcome of the contest. But concerns were mounting that electoral fraud in the south and east of the country, where few election monitors dared to go, could help push the number of votes cast for the president, Hamid Karzai, over 50 per cent, handing him victory without a second-round contest. Partial results are expected to be announced today.
One UN official estimated that between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the votes cast were illegal, and that negotiations would have to be made to “massage down” Mr Karzai’s victory margin. Independent election monitors said almost 700 complaints had been received, about 50 of which were earmarked for immediate investigation because of the possibility they could change the outcome. But the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which will publish some results today, said the reported cases of fraud “could not affect the result of the election”.
The commission had reached the conclusion the reported cases did not amount to widespread fraud and violations, given that the number of polling centres was 6,300, said Zekria Barakzai, IEC deputy head: “Whoever makes claims that there is widespread fraud should show evidence.”
A separate body, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), said a steady flow of official complaints had been received. – (Guardian service)
US militarycommanders in Afghanistan have called for more troops amid a "deteriorating" situation. President Barack Obama's special representative to the region, Richard Holbrooke, has been told by all four regional commands in Afghanistan there are insufficient troops to contend with the Taliban insurgency, according to an article in the New York Times. This comes as a top US military official warned of worsening security conditions. Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN the situation was "serious and deteriorating". – (PA)