Afghanistan announces last set of election results

Afghanistan announced Wednesday the final batch of results from a September 18 parliamentary election, with poll organizers aiming to wrap up a vote marred by widespread fraud and pave the way for a new parliament.

The Independent Election Commission said preliminary winners would hold all seats in southeastern Ghazni province. The results had been held up because all the victors were from the Hazara ethnic group even though nearly half the population is Pashtun.

Pashtun areas were plagued by the worst violence on the day of the vote, and in one Ghazni district just three people voted. There were concerns Pashtuns might react badly if all seats went to the Hazaras rather than reflecting the province's ethnic mix.

"The president might have concerns but we have done our job professionally," IEC chairman Fazl Ahmad Manawi told reporters.