Anand Gopal » elections

Likely Afghan Runoff Spurs Power-Sharing Talks

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Oct 17th, 2009

By Anand Gopal and Joe Lauria
KABUL — President Hamid Karzai failed to win a decisive majority in Afghanistan’s election, an official familiar with the ballot counting said, a development that has the two top candidates stepping up power-sharing talks to avoid a protracted runoff.
Results of an audit of suspect votes from the August polls are [...]

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Taliban Punish Voters In Wake Of Afghan Elections

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles, Security on Aug 27th, 2009

KABUL — The Taliban are attempting to exact revenge on Afghan voters and disrupt the ballot count — part of a campaign to exploit the political uncertainty after last week’s presidential election and try to undermine the results.
Since the Aug. 20 election, Taliban fighters have launched nearly a dozen attacks. They have severed the fingers [...]

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Afghan Vote Threatened By Fraud Allegations

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Aug 24th, 2009

KABUL — Reports of fraud and intimidation from election-monitoring groups are mounting, undermining the legitimacy of Afghanistan’s presidential vote and posing a challenge for the U.S. and its Western allies, who initially declared the vote a success.
A linchpin of the international community’s strategy here, Thursday’s election was supposed to shore up the credibility of the [...]

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Afghans Face Multiple Obstacles in Going to the Polls

Posted in Articles, Security on Aug 21st, 2009

QALA CHA, Afghanistan — Shershad Muhammad almost didn’t get to vote.
As the 60-year-old baker pedaled his bike toward a polling station in this village on Kabul’s outskirts early Thursday, a group of police officers forced him to dismount, tackled him and nearly arrested him. His offense: carrying a large black bag. It was full of [...]

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Attacks Shake up Afghan Balloting

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles, Security on Aug 21st, 2009

By Matthew Rosenberg, Anand Gopal and Yochi Dreazen
KABUL — Amid dozens of election-day Taliban attacks that claimed 26 lives, Afghans voted for president Thursday — but reports of low turnout and fraud made it unclear whether bombs or ballots would ultimately emerge the day’s victor.
Counting Ballots
Taliban militants had stepped up attacks for a week and [...]

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Fighting Fraud in Afghanistan’s Elections

Posted in Articles, Security on Aug 13th, 2009

Commission chief struggles to keep the process honest; ‘You do the best given the circumstances.’
KABUL — Afghanistan’s presidential election next week is proving to be a complicated exercise in democracy. A raging insurgency threatens to close voting centers. Some of the 38 candidates maintain ties to armed militias. Others have threatened violence if they lose. [...]

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Karzai Befriends Rivals to Improve Polls Odds

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Aug 8th, 2009

The unpopular Afghan President’s talent for deal-making and conciliation are expected to pave way for another 5-year term.
By Matthew Rosenberg and Anand Gopal
KABUL — When the U.S. and its allies first anointed Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan’s president nearly eight years ago, he was seen at home and abroad as an adept politician uniquely suited to [...]

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Afghan Democracy Bares Rough Edges

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Jul 23rd, 2009

by Peter Wonacott and Anand Gopal
KABUL — Afghanistan is expected to put its rough-edged new democracy on display in a televised debate between candidates vying to lead one of the world’s poorest, most turbulent countries.
But only three of the 41 presidential candidates were asked to appear for the event Thursday evening, and only one looked [...]

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Karzai draws criticism for early election call

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Mar 1st, 2009

Moving the presidential vote up to spring from August could undercut opponents, who still have to plan their campaigns
Kabul, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai’s declaration Saturday that Afghan presidential elections should be moved up to April or May has aggravated already tense political divisions in this increasingly unstable country.
The unpopular leader’s decree is at [...]

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Afghan Voter Registration Marred

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Dec 23rd, 2008

Insecurity and charges of fraud could hamper election officials’ ability to ensure popular acceptance of next year’s presidential poll results
Kabul, Afghanistan - Evidence of fraud and poor security conditions are raising concerns that next fall’s presidential elections could be compromised.
With Afghans scheduled to go to the polls in less than a year, the country’s Independent [...]

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