Preliminary results show Afghanistan's April 5 presidential election will have to go to a second-round run-off vote between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former World Bank official Ashraf Ghani.
Afghan election officials said Saturday that neither of the top two candidates won a majority of the overall vote. The official count shows Abdullah won 44.9 percent of the vote and Ghani 31.5 percent.
A run-off election is required unless a candidate wins more than 50 percent of the ballots. No details of a run-off have been set yet, since Saturday's preliminary results will be updated when the final official count is released on May 14.
Abdullah finished second in Afghanistan's last presidential election, in 2009. President Hamid Karzai was declared the winner amid allegations of irregularities and ballot fraud. Officials have been investigating complaints of possible fraud and other irregularities in the current election.
The winner of the April 5 election will replace Karzai, who could not run again because of constitutional limits. The next president will oversee a transition during which a majority of international troops will be withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Afghan Presidential Election to Go to Run-Off
Preliminary results show Afghanistan's April 5 presidential election will have to go to a second-round run-off vote between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former World Bank official Ashraf Ghani.
Afghan election officials said Saturday that neither of the top two candidates won a majority of the overall vote. The official count shows Abdullah won 44.9 percent of the vote and Ghani 31.5 percent.
A run-off election is required unless a candidate wins more than 50 percent of the ballots. No details of a run-off have been set yet, since Saturday's preliminary results will be updated when the final official count is released on May 14.
Abdullah finished second in Afghanistan's last presidential election, in 2009. President Hamid Karzai was declared the winner amid allegations of irregularities and ballot fraud. Officials have been investigating complaints of possible fraud and other irregularities in the current election.
The winner of the April 5 election will replace Karzai, who could not run again because of constitutional limits. The next president will oversee a transition during which a majority of international troops will be withdrawing from Afghanistan.
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