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Afghan election commission orders runoff
2009-Oct-20 20:54:30

KABUL: Afghanistan's election commission has ordered a runoff election for Nov 7 after a fraud investigation dropped President Hamid Karzai's votes below 50 percent of the total.

Afghan election commission orders runoff
A defaced and torn election poster of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who's also a presidential candidate in last August's vote, is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009.[Agencies] 

Karzai accepted the fraud panel finding in a press conference and endorsed a runoff election.

The chairman of the Independent Election Commission, Azizullah Lodin, said the commission did not want to "leave the people of Afghanistan in uncertainty" any longer.

"The commission is agreed to go to a second round and say that nobody got more than 50 percent," Lodin said. Afghan electoral law says a runoff is needed if no candidate gets above that percentage.

Lodin said all the materials are ready for the runoff.

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