Afghan commission: fraud filings could sway vote

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-23 21:39

KABUL: Charges of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election are extensive enough that they could sway the final result, and the number is likely to grow, the commission investigating complaints said Sunday.

An Afghan worker takes a break as he moves ballot boxes at a warehouse inside the grounds of the Independent Election Commission in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug 23, 2009. [Agencies]

The independent Electoral Complaints Commission has received 225 complaints since the start of Thursday's vote, including 35 allegations that are "material to the election results," said Grant Kippen, the head of the UN-backed body. The figures include complaints about both the presidential balloting and provincial council polls.

Millions of Afghans voted in the country's second-ever direct presidential election, although Taliban threats and attacks appeared to hold down the turnout, especially in the south. Final certified results won't come until next month.

President Hamid Karzai's top challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, widened allegations of fraud against Karzai and his government Sunday, saying ballots marked for Karzai were coming in from volatile southern districts where no vote was held, and that turnout was being reported as 40 percent in areas where only 10 percent of voters cast ballots.

"This is a sign or evidence of widespread rigging," Abdullah said.

Full Coverage:  Afghan Presidential Election Related readings:  Karzai, Abdullah both claim victory in Afghan election  Taliban insurgents attack Afghan election vehicle  Officials: Attacks kill 26 on Afghan election day  On election day, Taliban roam freely in Afghan south  Workers start to count election votes in Afghanistan

He said a border security commander in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, Gen. Abdul Raziq, used his house as a polling station and stuffed the ballot box for Karzai. Other polling sites were in border police posts that Raziq controls, Abdullah said.

Raziq denied the charges, saying that everyone in Spin Boldak voted in the appointed polling centers, which were schools and mosques. He said he and his border police were busy maintaining security and did nothing to tamper with the process.

"They are just spreading propaganda, the people who are saying there was fraud," Raziq said. "If there is any proof of it, please show me."

Abdullah said he hoped fraud would be prevented through legal appeals with the complaints commission. But he also said he had no faith in the chief of the Afghan Independent Election Commission, a Karzai appointee.

The Karzai campaign has dismissed such allegations, and accused Abdullah supporters of carrying out fraud. Another presidential candidate has displayed mangled ballots that he said were cast for him in Spin Boldak and then thrown out by election workers.

The most common accusation in the complaints commission's 35 high-priority allegations was ballot box tampering, Kippen said. He stressed that the number was likely to grow. The commission has only received complaints filed at provincial capitals and Kabul so far and is still waiting for complaints submitted at polling sites.

Outside observers have said the voting process was mostly credible, but have also listed numerous incidents of fraud and violence.

The top Afghan monitoring group has said there were widespread problems with supposedly independent election officials at polling stations trying to influence the way people voted. That group, the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan, also catalogued violations such as people using multiple voter cards so they could vote more than once, and underage voting.

The US special envoy to Afghanistan said allegations of vote rigging and fraud are to be expected, but observers should wait for the official complaints process to run its course before judging the vote's legitimacy.

"We have disputed elections in the United States. There may be some questions here. That wouldn't surprise me at all. I expect it," Richard Holbrooke told AP Television News in the western city of Herat. "But let's not get out ahead of the situation."

Holbrooke said the US government would wait for rulings from Afghanistan's monitoring bodies -- the Independent Election Commission and the complaints commission -- before trying to judge the legitimacy of the vote.

"The United States and the international community will respect the process set up by Afghanistan itself," Holbrooke said. He has been in Afghanistan observing the vote, following a trip to Pakistan last week.

The first preliminary results will not be released until Tuesday, and final certified results won't come until next month. If neither Karzai nor Abdullah gets 50 percent of the vote among a field of some three dozen candidates, then they will go to a runoff, probably in October.

In the interview Saturday, Abdullah said he was in contact with other campaigns to explore the possibility of a coalition candidacy in case none of the 36 candidates won enough votes to avoid a runoff.

Both Abdullah and Karzai claim they are in the lead based on reports from campaign poll-watchers monitoring the count.

About Election and Candidates

Related Links

• Office of President of Afghanistan
• Official Website of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah
• Independent Election Commission
• Electoral Complaints Commission
• UNDP's ELECT Project