New setback in Afghan vote
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Foreign election specialists yesterday studied complaints from candidates in Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election, setting aside suspect ballot boxes and further delaying the vote count.
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Afghanistan&#39;s first-ever presidential vote puts this nation of mud-brick houses and tribal fiefdoms on the edge of an improbable experiment with democracy.
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A mix-up over ink used to mark voters' thumbs triggered an uproar Saturday in Afghanistan's first direct presidential elections, leading several candidates to allege fraud despite assurances from election workers that the problem was limited.
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Afghans halted counting in their presidential election pending a United Nations probe into accusations of fraud, as international observers said the vote is just a first step in creating a stabile and secure country.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Chances for a conclusive result to Afghanistan's landmark election were on firmer ground Tuesday after President Hamid Karzai's main challenger backed away from a boycott, indicating he'd accept an independent commission to probe vote-fraud charges.    Although no ballots from Saturday's election have been counted yet, the U.S.-backed interim leader is the clear favorite to win...
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As Bibi Gul voted in Afghanistan's landmark presidential election Saturday, she cried recalling how she lost her husband to war, raised five children under the Taliban and was threatened with having her hand chopped off if she dared cast her ballot.
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Afghanistan's historic presidential  election closed on Saturday without any of the feared  large-scale violence, but the vote was thrown into turmoil when  most candidates said a flawed process made the poll invalid.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Opposition candidates who declared Afghanistan's presidential election invalid Saturday after the wrong kind of ink was used to mark voters' thumbs began to back down yesterday, as international organizations called the ballot mostly fair and some Afghans angrily accused the opponents of interim President Hamid Karzai of overreacting.
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Afghanistan was preparing on Tuesday to  count votes after rivals of President Hamid Karzai said they  had withdrawn their rejection of the weekend presidential poll.
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Afghan officials delayed counting ballots  in a historic presidential election on Monday to deal with  complaints of fraud, but several of the candidates appeared to  be pulling back from an initial decision to boycott the vote.
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Hamid Karzai is about to win in Afghanistan&#39;s first direct presidential election, but the returns show that dangerous ethnic divides could become a major problem if he wins.
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Ballots are being counted in Afghanistan, after delays created by irregularities in Saturday's elections.
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Hamid Karzai announced a boycott, saying a system to prevent illegal multiple voting had failed. The JEMB said on Monday it was investigating the complaints.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Ballot boxes poured into counting centers Monday for a tally of the troubled presidential election in Afghanistan amid signs an opposition boycott was wavering after at least two candidates agreed to accept the ruling of an independent panel's inquiry.    Election organizers hope their decision, announced late Sunday, to establish a panel of about three foreign election experts to investigate the balloting will end the boycott, which many fear could seriously undermine the winner's ability to rule this war-ravaged nation...
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As the war-weary Afghans are getting closer to the first-ever presidential polls, the spiraling violence is going to hamper the ongoing stabilization process in the post-war nation, observers here believe.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's first direct presidential election was thrust into turmoil hours after it started Saturday when all 15 candidates challenging interim leader Hamid Karzai alleged fraud over the ink meant to ensure people voted only once and vowed to boycott the results.    But electoral officials rejected their demand that the vote be called off, saying an apparent mix-up with the ink was not severe enough to halt the historic vote...
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Thousands of election workers began the long process of tallying the results of Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election on Sunday, even as controversy swirled over the vote's legitimacy.    What was supposed to be a historic day in the war-ravaged nation turned sour Saturday when all 15 challengers to interim President Hamid Karzai withdrew in the middle of voting, accusing the government and the United Nations of fraud and incompetence because of faulty ink used to mark voters' thumbs...