Afghan Election Officials Replaced En Masse for Second Vote

Runoff May Be Even Less Credible Than August Vote

With just two weeks until the planned Afghanistan runoff vote, the United Nations is scramling to make changes in the hopes that the balloting will be at least somewhat less fraud-ridden than the last one.

The first move is to oust hundreds of top election officials which were believed to have played a role in the million plus fraudulent ballots casted in August. Other measures are expected, but time is not on their side.

In fact many are saying that the second round of voting could be even less credible than the first, with most of the same failed mechanisms in place and weather and a disillusioned public likely to drop turnout precipitously.

But no matter how big a failure it is, officials aren’t looking at any quick fixes. Top Obama advisor Bruce Riedel noted “a second fiasco will be the end of this. There can’t be a third round.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.