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| Abdullah takes early lead in Afghan presidential election | Abdullah takes early lead in Afghan presidential election |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KABUL — In the first partial results from Afghanistan’s presidential election, the former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has emerged as the early leader, but he is far from surpassing the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright, according to the country’s election commission. | KABUL — In the first partial results from Afghanistan’s presidential election, the former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has emerged as the early leader, but he is far from surpassing the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright, according to the country’s election commission. |
| Eight days after Afghans took to the polls, election officials are still counting votes and investigating claims of fraud. On Sunday, Yousuf Nuristani, the chief of the Independent Election Commission, announced the first official results, a sampling of 10 percent of the votes from 26 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. | Eight days after Afghans took to the polls, election officials are still counting votes and investigating claims of fraud. On Sunday, Yousuf Nuristani, the chief of the Independent Election Commission, announced the first official results, a sampling of 10 percent of the votes from 26 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. |
| Abdullah received 41.9 percent of those votes. The next closest candidate was Ashraf Ghani, the former finance minister and World Bank executive, with 37.6 percent. Zalmay Rassoul, a candidate who at one time was considered the favorite of outgoing President Hamid Karzai, was running a distant third with 9.8 percent. | Abdullah received 41.9 percent of those votes. The next closest candidate was Ashraf Ghani, the former finance minister and World Bank executive, with 37.6 percent. Zalmay Rassoul, a candidate who at one time was considered the favorite of outgoing President Hamid Karzai, was running a distant third with 9.8 percent. |
| The results are far from definitive. | The results are far from definitive. |
| Nuristani said the totals represent more than 500,000 votes out of an estimated 7 million Afghans who cast ballots in the presidential election. In the coming days, Afghan officials intend to release the results piecemeal, with the final tally not coming until next month. | Nuristani said the totals represent more than 500,000 votes out of an estimated 7 million Afghans who cast ballots in the presidential election. In the coming days, Afghan officials intend to release the results piecemeal, with the final tally not coming until next month. |
| If early indications bear out, the next step would be a runoff between the top two finishers — Abdullah and Ghani — although Afghan and Western officials have raised the possibility that the candidates could make a deal among themselves and avoid a second round of voting. | If early indications bear out, the next step would be a runoff between the top two finishers — Abdullah and Ghani — although Afghan and Western officials have raised the possibility that the candidates could make a deal among themselves and avoid a second round of voting. |
| In Afghanistan’s last presidential election, Abdullah finished second to Karzai, then dropped out before the scheduled runoff, saying that the process was unfair and rigged against him. This time, with Karzai unable to run because of term limits, Abdullah has emerged as the front-runner. | In Afghanistan’s last presidential election, Abdullah finished second to Karzai, then dropped out before the scheduled runoff, saying that the process was unfair and rigged against him. This time, with Karzai unable to run because of term limits, Abdullah has emerged as the front-runner. |
| Abdullah, an ophthalmologist by training, had served as an aide to anti-Soviet guerrilla commander Ahmed Shah Massoud, and later as the country’s foreign minister during the early years of Karzai’s tenure. If he prevails, Abdullah would be the first ethnic Tajik to rule Afghanistan since 1996, when Burhannudin Rabbani was driven out of Kabul by the Taliban. | |
| Aiming to appeal to the widest possible constituency, Abdullah and the other presidential candidates have made campaign stops across the country and chosen running mates to cater to still-tense ethnic politics. One of Abdullah’s vice presidential nominees is Pashtun, the most populous ethnic group, and the other is Hazara, a minority. | |
| Ghani, the other leading candidate, has taken on the Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum and a Hazara candidate. | |
| Both Abdullah and Ghani are expected to make public statements later today about the initial results. | |
| The next few weeks will likely accelerate the political chess game, as losing candidates move to join stronger teams and new coalitions form. Amid that jockeying, the election watchdog will be investigating allegations of fraud, which could also change the outcome. | |
| That organization on Sunday said that 3,724 allegations of fraud have been reported, even more than in the 2009 election. The irregularities that year, when more than 1 million votes were invalidated, pushed Karzai below the 50 percent threshold needed to win in the first round and soured his relations with the Obama administration. | |
| Both Abdullah and Ghani have promised to sign a security partnership agreement with the United States if elected that would allow American troops to stay in Afghanistan into the future. |