Landslide victory for Karzai says exit poll

Afghan president Hamid Karzai won the first-ever presidential election with the outright majority needed to avoid a second round, and by a wide margin over his nearest competitor, according to an independent exit poll today.

The survey by the US International Republican Institute, a non-profit group that seeks to promote democracy abroad, found Karzai ahead of second place finisher Yunus Qanooni by 43%.

The group would not give specific vote totals for either man, nor did it release supporting data. But it said that Karzai was well over the 50% mark necessary to avoid a runoff.

“We want to give a measure of confidence in how this process proceeded, and eventually the result,” said Kent Patton, a senior advisor on Afghanistan for the IRI.

The group, which also sent a 13 member observer team to monitor the election, is closely tied to the Republican Party but not directly affiliated with it.

The survey was paid for by the U.S. Agency for International De

The exit poll may offer the only indication for some time of who might have won. Electoral officials say they won’t start counting actual ballots for several days, and that a final result may not be in until October 30.

There were 18 candidates on the ballot, though two pulled out two days before the election.

The remaining 15 opposition candidates boycotted the vote, saying the ink used to mark people’s thumbs and prevent them from voting twice was flawed. Several have since backed down, but the crisis remains unresolved.

International observers and the independent electoral commission have both said the problem was not widespread and did not warrant a boycott.