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                           Afghan Vote Audit to Begin

   by VOA News

   The audit of all ballots cast in Afghanistan's presidential runoff was
   expected to begin Thursday. The audit hopes to dissolve the deadlock
   over who won the election June 14.

   All ballots cast in the runoff -- some 8 million of them -- are
   expected to be scrutinized for adherence to official standards, to
   prove or rule out ballot-stuffing and other irregularities.

   Independent Election Commission spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told
   reporters on Wednesday that the counting of all eight million votes and
   the transportation of ballot boxes to Kabul will officially start July
   17. The process is expected to take several weeks.

   The transport of ballots from provincial offices to the capital will be
   under the supervision of the international peacekeeping force ISAF,
   while representatives of the candidates, the media, and domestic and
   foreign observers will monitor the audit.

   In a deal mediated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday,
   rival Afghan presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani
   agreed to a full United Nations-supervised audit of the entire runoff
   poll and committed to abide by the final results.

   Millions of Afghans took part in the first round of presidential
   elections April 5, defying threats of violence by the Taliban. Election
   authorities claimed the turnout was even higher in the June 14 runoff
   vote. Abdullah led the first round but trails in preliminary second
   round results that put Ghani in the lead by about one million votes.

   Abdullah rejected the outcome, accusing President Hamid Karzai,
   election authorities and the Ghani campaign of colluding against him to
   rig the vote that could lead to the first peaceful transfer of power in
   Afghanistan's history.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/afghan-vote-audit-to-begin/1959321.html