Afghan Election Officials Disqualify 447 Polling Stations

'No Idea' When Final Afghan Vote Will Be Released

by Jason Ditz, September 06, 2009

Afghan electoral officials today admitted that they “have no idea” when the results of last month’s disputed election, previous scheduled to be released on September 17, will actually be made public. The count has been slowed by reports of massive fraud across the nation.

Abdullah Abdullah

The officials have also decided to throw out the results from some 447 polling stations, citing irregularities. Roughly 6,600 polling places opened for the vote. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai reportedly got every single vote in multiple polling places, and the turnout was larger than the number of eligible voters in many others.

Reports continue to show Karzai with a significant margin of victory, though it remains to be seen, given the number of polling stations that have been thrown out, if he will amass the 50% of the vote needed to avoid a run-off with top challenger Abdullah Abdullah.

Abdullah has dismissed the results, calling the election “state organized fraud” and has rejected offers to join Karzai’s governmcent in some capacity. He has however ruled out the sort of massive protests that neighboring Iran saw earlier this year in the wake of its own hotly disputed vote, and has urged calm among his followers.

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