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Afghan Runoff Set for Nov. 7

Karzai accepts results of UN-backed recount

By the Associated Press

Posted Oct 20, 2009 7:37 AM CDT

(AP) – Afghanistan's election commission has ordered a runoff election for Nov. 7 after a fraud investigation dropped President Hamid Karzai's votes below 50% of the total. Karzai accepted the fraud panel finding in a press conference and endorsed a runoff election. The Independent Election Commission said it did not want to "leave the people of Afghanistan in uncertainty" any longer.

"The commission is agreed to go to a second round and say that nobody got more than 50%," the chairman said. Afghan law requires a runoff vote if no candidate wins a simple majority.

An Afghan man looks at a newspaper with the news about the election results at a market place in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009.
An Afghan man looks at a newspaper with the news about the election results at a market place in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009.   (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A torn election poster of Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan foreign minister who run against President Hamid Karzai in last August's vote, is seen on a wall in Kabul, Afghanistan, Oct. 19, 2009.
A torn election poster of Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan foreign minister who run against President Hamid Karzai in last August's vote, is seen on a wall in Kabul, Afghanistan, Oct. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
A defaced and torn election poster of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who's also a presidential candidate in last August's vote, is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.
A defaced and torn election poster of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who's also a presidential candidate in last August's vote, is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.   (Musadeq Sadeq)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
RogerMohajir
Oct 20, 2009 1:35 AM CDT
Why wouldn't Karzai agree to a runoff? He stole the first election, and he can steal the next one, too. It is not possible to hold a free and fair election in Afghanistan under current circumstances, so why do we pretend that these "votes" confer legitimacy?

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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