Major fraud allegations in Afghanistan vote top 500

Major allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election have topped 500, more than doubling the figure investigators reported just two days earlier, officials said today.

The spike indicates just how pervasive ballot box stuffing and voter intimidation may have been during the country's Aug 20 vote, threatening the legitimacy of the election.

Election results will not be made official until major fraud allegations are investigated.
    
Partial results so far show president Hamid Karzai leading with 46.2 per cent of votes, and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah with 31.4 per cent. The count is based on votes from 35 per cent of the country's polling stations. Karzai will need to reach 50 per cent of the votes to avoid a two-man run-off.
    
The independent Electoral Complaints Commission has received more than 2,000 allegations of fraud and intimidation on voting day or during the subsequent counting of ballots, said Nellika Little, a spokeswoman for the group.
    
Of those, 567 have been deemed serious enough to affect the outcome of the poll if proved true, Little said. On Friday, the commission had reported 270 major allegations.

The commission is still evaluating complaints, so the figure could rise further.