fraud in Afghanistan’s recent presidential election

The UN-backed commission investigating fraud in Afghanistan’s recent presidential election issued its first orders yesterday to exclude some ballots from the final tally. The 20 August poll has been increasingly marred by reports of ballot-box stuffing and suspicious tallies. The US monitoring group has said “large numbers of polling stations” had more than 100% turnout and President Hamid Karzai’s (pictured above) top challenger has accused him of “state-engineered” fraud. All ballots from 5 polling stations in Paktika province should be voided because they show clear evidence of fraud, the Electoral Complaints Commission said in a statement. This is a more severe step than ordering a recount, in which the votes could eventually be included. It seems the Coalition has been too successful in implanting the notion of democracy in Afghanistan – some there are so keen on it they’re voting twice. What a sordid farce – let’s get our brave troops out of there NOW.