Observers Debate Legitimacy of Afghanistan Election Becasue of Serious Fraud
One district in Paktika province recorded 626 percent voter turnout, according to reports obtained by McClatchy Newspapers. Internal reports from Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission on Tuesday provide new evidence of serious fraud in Afghanistan's parliamentary elections, including turnouts that exceeded 100 percent in many southeastern districts under the control of the Taliban or other militants. The new indications of fraud appear to strengthen allegations of widespread intimidation, vote rigging and violence that independent Afghan poll monitors began making almost immediately after the polls closed on Saturday and cast new doubts on the commission's assertion that it knew of no instances in which commission staff members stuffed ballots.