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UN to probe afghan elections for fraud Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/10/11/afghanelex041011.htmlhttp://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/10/11/afghanelex041011.html
UN to probe Afghan elections for fraud
Last Updated Mon, 11 Oct 2004 15:50:30 EDT
KABUL - A Canadian diplomat will be among three foreign officials investigating the first-ever Afghan presidential election for alleged irregularities.
The three-member panel will examine allegations of improper voting. The move will delay the counting of ballots until after the Wednesday deadline for filing complaints. Observers expect it will take up to three weeks before the result of the election is known.
Yunus Qanuni, the leading challenger to incumbent president Hamid Karzai, said on Monday he would abide by the panel's findings, reversing his earlier call for a boycott of the election result.
"To respect the will of millions of Afghans and to go along with our national interests I would accept the results of the election after the investigation," Qanuni said after talks with U.S. and UN envoys.
On Saturday, he and the other 13 challengers cast doubt on the fairness of the election and threatened not to accept the outcome.
The main allegation concerned the use of indelible ink that was supposed to make multiple voting impossible. Critics said the ink was faulty, enabling people to cast more than a single vote.
The three-member panel will include a former Canadian diplomat, a Swedish election specialist and a third member to be named by the European Union. They will examine all serious allegations of voting irregularities, not just complaints about the ink.
At least two other candidates, the Shia Hazara leader Mohammed Mohaqiq and lone female candidate Masooda Jalal, have also backed off the boycott appeal and support an inquiry.
Afghanistan's Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) said ballot boxes in areas where complaints have been made will be separated from those from other areas.
Karzai, a Pashtun who has led the US-backed administration in Kabul since the overthrow of the Taliban three years ago, has rejected calls for fresh elections as an affront to Afghans who braved violence and bad weather to cast their votes.
Karzai, who is the favourite, must win by a clear majority or face a run-off vote.
Several international election observers have said the poll was "fairly democratic." U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice said on Sunday that despite allegations of fraud, Afghanistan's first attempt at free elections was a success.
The Taliban have rejected the election as a foreign-sponsored exercise, and vowed to continue fighting the new administration and the U.S.
The UN helped organize the election, in which more than 10 million people – many of them refugees living in Pakistan and Iran – were registered to vote.
Written by CBC News Online staff
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