The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), an UN-backed agency, ordered ballots be recounted at 10% of Afghan’s polling stations, officials announced today.
Nearly one month since the Afghan election, the ECC is ordering that 2,500 stations be audited before it is determined whether their votes should be annulled. The new Afghan President will not be named until all claims are investigated.
To date, the ECC has annulled the results from 83 polling stations throughout the country, all of which in President Hamid Karzai strongholds. Today’s order will identify polling stations with 100% turnout or where a single candidate received over 95% of the vote.
The announcement comes amid rising tensions in the country as troops fight a Taliban insurgency taking advantage of the political limbo and scandals. There are over 100,000 NATO and US troops in Afghanistan.
The 2009 election was the second election for the embattled country, the first organized by Afghans themselves. Currently, President Karzai is believed to have 54.3% of the vote, while his closest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, has 28.1%.
Some information from this report from AFP