Afghan candidates demand new vote

[Cowperson]

Well, you expected problems to emerge with the Afghan vote given the wacky country in which its taking place and the newness of it all . . . . but having the wrong ink is a bit unexpected.

UN officials are in crisis talks with opposition candidates who want a new election after some polling stations found they had the wrong ink. The ink was supposed to be indelible so that a person voting couldn't wash it off his thumb and vote again, even though ballot cards also have to be punched.

Voting was halted, new ink delivered and polling resumed . . . . but the damage was done as far as the opposition was concerned.

The UN doesn't think its a serious problem.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/0...ions/index.html

And, in spite of Mullah Omar's warning that people would be blown to bits if they voted, it doesn't appear the Taliban were able to incite any violence . . . in itself pretty remarkable.

Cowperson

[Lanny_MacDonald]

I think this was predictable. I think that some of the abuses that were expected took place and some (thankfully) did not. I do not like the impropriety of Khalilzad visiting a candidate leading up to the vote. Does cast a pall over the event. In all it sounds like the election went well and the people were exited about a chance to participate in democracy, no matter how twisted the version is. I still wanna know how the women were able to vote wearing the beekeeper suit??? Will this be a new trend in democracy? WEAR the voting booth to the polling station???

[Cowperson]

A follow-up comment from the United Nations officials supervising the vote:

"The vote will continue because halting the vote at this stage is unjustified and would deny these people their right to vote," said Ray Kennedy, the vice-chairman of the joint U.N.-Afghan electoral body. "There have been some technical problems but overall it has been safe and orderly."

The officials had said workers at a few voting stations mistakenly swapped the permanent ink meant to mark people’s thumbs with normal ink meant for ballots, but insisted the problem was caught quickly.

There was no immediate comment from Karzai, who had voted in Kabul and even rubbed his thumb to show reporters the ink didn’t rub off.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6185037/

I think its absolutely stunning there hasn't been a single bomb or gunshot that we've heard about to this point, especially considering the threats and predictions leading into this. Incredible.

Good for them.

Cowperson