Fraud charges may sway Afghan poll outcome

CHARGES of fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election are extensive enough that they could sway the final result, the commission investigating the complaints said yesterday.

The independent Electoral Complaints Commission has received 225 complaints since polls opened on Thursday, 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. President Hamid Karzai’s top challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, accused the president of rigging the vote in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday. Another presidential candidate has displayed mangled ballots that he said were cast for him and then thrown out by election workers.