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| Voting Fraud Stubbornly Hangs Over Afghanistan Election | Voting Fraud Stubbornly Hangs Over Afghanistan Election |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Zia proudly recalled how he voted in the Afghan presidential election on April 5, for the first time in his 18 years. | |
| Then he voted for the second time, a little later that day, casting an illegal additional ballot in the same box. “I was worried that my candidate wouldn’t win,” he said, “because of all the fraud and corruption.” | |
| Electoral fraud is the shadow stubbornly hanging over Afghanistan’s elections, the first in the country’s modern history that have the promise to usher in a peaceful change of leadership, as President Hamid Karzai steps down after 12 years in power, constitutionally unable to run again. | Electoral fraud is the shadow stubbornly hanging over Afghanistan’s elections, the first in the country’s modern history that have the promise to usher in a peaceful change of leadership, as President Hamid Karzai steps down after 12 years in power, constitutionally unable to run again. |
| On Thursday, Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission issued more partial results, again showing a comfortable lead for Abdullah Abdullah, the runner-up in the 2009 presidential election, but also making it all but certain that he will not win the necessary 50 percent of the votes, forcing a runoff election in late May or June. | On Thursday, Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission issued more partial results, again showing a comfortable lead for Abdullah Abdullah, the runner-up in the 2009 presidential election, but also making it all but certain that he will not win the necessary 50 percent of the votes, forcing a runoff election in late May or June. |
| With more than 82 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Abdullah had 43.8 percent of the vote, with his nearest opponent, Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank technocrat, with 32.9 percent, according to the commission. | With more than 82 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Abdullah had 43.8 percent of the vote, with his nearest opponent, Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank technocrat, with 32.9 percent, according to the commission. |
| The final but still preliminary results are due Saturday, but they are not likely to change significantly. | The final but still preliminary results are due Saturday, but they are not likely to change significantly. |
| What could conceivably shift the final balance is how fraudulent votes are handled, and how many of the votes counted so far are thrown out. Those results will not be official, however, until the Electoral Complaints Commission rules on 746 complaints of serious fraud in the presidential race, which potentially could affect as many as a million votes, although the more likely total is closer to half a million votes. | What could conceivably shift the final balance is how fraudulent votes are handled, and how many of the votes counted so far are thrown out. Those results will not be official, however, until the Electoral Complaints Commission rules on 746 complaints of serious fraud in the presidential race, which potentially could affect as many as a million votes, although the more likely total is closer to half a million votes. |
| Election officials have refused to specify how many votes are at stake in the complaints process. But just in the western city of Herat, an Abdullah stronghold, 80,000 votes have been quarantined for suspected fraud, officials there said. | Election officials have refused to specify how many votes are at stake in the complaints process. But just in the western city of Herat, an Abdullah stronghold, 80,000 votes have been quarantined for suspected fraud, officials there said. |
| Neither the complaints commission, nor the elections commission that organized the voting and counting, have been able to specify how many of the votes that were tainted by fraud complaints are included in the preliminary tallies. | |
| Nader Mohseni, the spokesman for the complaints commission, said some were and some were not. “In some cases they’ve taken fraud complaints into consideration and in some they haven’t,” he said. “But we’ll have the power to exclude fraudulent votes later.” | Nader Mohseni, the spokesman for the complaints commission, said some were and some were not. “In some cases they’ve taken fraud complaints into consideration and in some they haven’t,” he said. “But we’ll have the power to exclude fraudulent votes later.” |
| The commissions have until May 14 to certify official results. | The commissions have until May 14 to certify official results. |
| Unsurprisingly, the candidates who are behind in the vote count have focused attention on the fraud. At a recent news conference, Mr. Ghani complained that the election officials were releasing results without having filtered out the fraud first. “No one can claim that the votes are clean,” he said. | |
| In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Abdullah ruled out any sort of coalition government with Mr. Ghani. “Now the issue is how to strategize for the second round — no matter what, it will go to the second round,” said Mr. Abdullah, who is reported to be in negotiations with other candidates to offer them positions in his government in exchange for second-round support. | |
| Election officials and observers have generally agreed that this year’s presidential election was cleaner than in the past. But when it comes to electoral fraud, Afghanistan has established a pretty low bar. | Election officials and observers have generally agreed that this year’s presidential election was cleaner than in the past. But when it comes to electoral fraud, Afghanistan has established a pretty low bar. |
| In the last presidential poll, in 2009, voters in some areas were rounded up by armed warlords and herded to the polls, where the votes they cast were checked to make sure of their obedience. In other areas, entire voting districts returned thousands of votes with 100 percent of the ballots marked for a single candidate, even though all the voting places in those districts were closed because of security threats. | In the last presidential poll, in 2009, voters in some areas were rounded up by armed warlords and herded to the polls, where the votes they cast were checked to make sure of their obedience. In other areas, entire voting districts returned thousands of votes with 100 percent of the ballots marked for a single candidate, even though all the voting places in those districts were closed because of security threats. |
| In this election, computerized bar-coding of ballots, boxes and tally sheets should make it easier for authorities to segregate tainted votes. But ballot-box stuffing remained a widely reported problem. | |
| “Fraud is a fact in all elections, and it is especially bad where there is a lack of education,” Mr. Mohseni said. “But in Afghanistan, maybe some people here do some special fraud.” | “Fraud is a fact in all elections, and it is especially bad where there is a lack of education,” Mr. Mohseni said. “But in Afghanistan, maybe some people here do some special fraud.” |
| This year, more indelible ink, a blue silver-oxide blend, was introduced to prevent the multiple-voting problem widely seen in 2009. The new ink is supposed to last several days and be more resistant to erasure. | This year, more indelible ink, a blue silver-oxide blend, was introduced to prevent the multiple-voting problem widely seen in 2009. The new ink is supposed to last several days and be more resistant to erasure. |
| That is a technological arms race the election authorities seem to have lost in some places, like in Mr. Zia’s hometown Yawkawlang. After he voted the first time, he said, he simply used Whitex laundry stain remover to wash off the ink, and voted again. | |
| He said he was fair, however. The first time he voted for Mr. Abdullah, but, worried that fraudsters would steal the election from that candidate, he cast a sort of safety vote for Zalmay Rassoul. Mr. Rassoul, the former foreign minister in Mr. Karzai’s government, was running a distant third in the Thursday tallies, with 11 percent of the vote. | He said he was fair, however. The first time he voted for Mr. Abdullah, but, worried that fraudsters would steal the election from that candidate, he cast a sort of safety vote for Zalmay Rassoul. Mr. Rassoul, the former foreign minister in Mr. Karzai’s government, was running a distant third in the Thursday tallies, with 11 percent of the vote. |
| There was also some industrial-scale fraud this time as well. In some districts, ballot books were stuffed into the boxes without even bothering to detach the individual ballots, Mr. Mohseni said. The ballots come in books of 100 perforated ballots. | |
| In other polling stations, local authorities declared all 600 votes in a single ballot box cast by 9 a.m., two hours after the official opening time. But with one box, and each voter requiring at least 90 seconds to vote, 600 votes would take a minimum of 15 hours to cast — not two hours. | In other polling stations, local authorities declared all 600 votes in a single ballot box cast by 9 a.m., two hours after the official opening time. But with one box, and each voter requiring at least 90 seconds to vote, 600 votes would take a minimum of 15 hours to cast — not two hours. |
| Mr. Mohseni said that despite such problems, he expected the authorities to better identify the fraudulent votes this year. “We did not see people forced by gunmen to vote — now the fraud is a little bit smarter,” he said. “But we are more experienced, there was a higher turnout, and many more observers this time.” | Mr. Mohseni said that despite such problems, he expected the authorities to better identify the fraudulent votes this year. “We did not see people forced by gunmen to vote — now the fraud is a little bit smarter,” he said. “But we are more experienced, there was a higher turnout, and many more observers this time.” |
| The number of national election observers is much higher than in 2009; some 60,000 were trained to cover 21,000 polling stations, although many international observers pulled out or greatly reduced their presence here after a wave of pre-election violence aimed at foreigners. International observers and United Nations officials were a major factor in identifying widespread fraud in the 2009 election, when 1.3 million votes were disallowed because of fraud – nearly a fourth of all votes cast. | The number of national election observers is much higher than in 2009; some 60,000 were trained to cover 21,000 polling stations, although many international observers pulled out or greatly reduced their presence here after a wave of pre-election violence aimed at foreigners. International observers and United Nations officials were a major factor in identifying widespread fraud in the 2009 election, when 1.3 million votes were disallowed because of fraud – nearly a fourth of all votes cast. |
| Now, the United Nations and Western diplomats have been studiously quiet on the fraud issue, although they have taken care to praise the record-breaking turnout on election day, and the failure of Taliban vows to widely disrupt the voting. | Now, the United Nations and Western diplomats have been studiously quiet on the fraud issue, although they have taken care to praise the record-breaking turnout on election day, and the failure of Taliban vows to widely disrupt the voting. |
| Success in the $120 million, Western-funded election has been important to donor countries, who need a clean election to continue to persuade restless electorates back home that it is worth continuing to support the Afghan government, despite persistent complaints about corruption and growing hostility toward the West. | Success in the $120 million, Western-funded election has been important to donor countries, who need a clean election to continue to persuade restless electorates back home that it is worth continuing to support the Afghan government, despite persistent complaints about corruption and growing hostility toward the West. |