Monday, October 18, 2010

Fraud Seen in Afghan Election

The results of the Afghan preliminary election taken on September 18, 2010, that were supposed to released October 17th, were postoned. Interviews with Afghan and Western officials indicate that fraud was highly apparent. Apparently, nearly 25 percent of the votes are likely to be thrown out all together. The fraud included corrupt election officials, ballot-box stuffing, citizens forced to cast their votes at gunpoint, and security forces who aided corrupt candidates. It is said that the results will be released three days prior to expected. “You can do a lot of mischief in three days,” said a Western observer knowledgeable about the election process.People close to the commission said that at least 89 percent of the votes had been counted and sifted for fraud in all province.

-Matt DiPietrantonio
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/world/asia/18kabul.html?hpw
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2 comments:

  1. BradBeckwithOctober 18, 2010 at 8:18 AM

    This is sad news regarding the upcoming important Afghan elections for the upcoming year. It's unfornunate that fraud is so apparent in Afghanistan as this election was supposed to begin their promising future. The fact that 25% of the votes will be thrown away and almost all the votes accounted for are said to be sited for fraud is sickening. We will find out for sure the results in the next 3 days, but it seems the results are going to turn out bad.

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  2. mitchellOctober 19, 2010 at 12:15 PM

    This type of behavior shows the immediate failure of America to help to Afghanistan become a democratic state. It took the United States hundreds of years to curb election corruption. Given that notion I remain with some aspect of optimism that eventually Afghanistan could become a fully democratic state. Once this occurs, the citizens of the country must become politically active in order to create a cycle of understanding and politically equality. This course relates to this article because we as students are learning how to be more politically involved, which is the intent of our nation's involvement.
    -Mitchell Kellman

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