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Fraud Accusations Double in Afghan Election

Karzai's opponents accuse him of stuffing ballot boxes

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 31, 2009 9:44 AM CDT
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(Newser) – When a Kabul school teacher arrived at 6am at an election station he was supposed to run, he found the ballot boxes already full. When he protested, the local tribal chieftain’s men took him away. His is just one of 550 serious fraud accusations that Afghan election officials are looking into—a number that has suddenly jumped from 270, the New York Times reports. Almost all of the alleged fraud favors Hamid Karzai.

“It does indicate there were a lot of allegations that have to be taken seriously, and if fraud did take place, that it was systematic,” said one analyst. The international community is increasingly uneasy with the in-limbo situation—elections results can't be certified until the serious claims have been investigated—but is unsure how to deal with it. Afghan officials say that if any fraud accusation is proven, the affected ballot boxes will be struck from the count, but witnesses and evidence could be hard to come by.

Election workers ponder over a problem while entering data into a computer at the election result tally center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.
Election workers ponder over a problem while entering data into a computer at the election result tally center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.   (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
An Afghan election worker checks results of candidates at the National Tally Center of the Independence Election Commission in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, Aug 30, 2009.
An Afghan election worker checks results of candidates at the National Tally Center of the Independence Election Commission in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, Aug 30, 2009.   (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
An Afghan election worker computerizes results of candidates at the National Tally Center of the Independence Election Commission in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, Aug 30, 2009.
An Afghan election worker computerizes results of candidates at the National Tally Center of the Independence Election Commission in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, Aug 30, 2009.   (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Robert_Dada
Aug 31, 2009 10:22 AM CDT
More than likely, they took a few ideas from the Republican playbook in 2000.
sully4411
Aug 31, 2009 3:28 AM CDT
lol! what a terrible joke! i mean, i still laughed, but only becase i know you make such ridiculous statements but are atleast semi-serious.....but honestly, what kind of stupid comment is that? this is a serious situation, and all you can do is continue to belittle the rise of the democratic party in the US just because now, for once, the repubs are the minority....and it feels oh-so-nice
DontLikeYou___
Aug 31, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
Was Karzai trained by the democrat party?

 
Afghanistan • Hamid Karzai • election fraud • Afghanistan election

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