Afghan vote: 'Massive' turnout
2004-10-09 19:59
Kabul - Turnout in Afghanistan's troubled first presidential elections Saturday was "massive", a United Nations official said.
"Overall there was massive participation in the election," said UN spokesperson, Manoel de Almeida e Silva.
"There were some problems such as the ink," he said, referring to the fact that supposedly indelible ink marks placed on voters fingers in some polling stations rubbed off easily.
"These and other irregularities need to be addressed and observed by the JEMB (Joint Election Management Body)."
Almeida e Silva said ballot boxes from 5 000 polling stations around the country would be moved to eight regional centres from Sunday and partial results would be announced "in a couple of days".
Fourteen candidates opposed to interim President Hamid Karzai, widely expected to win the vote, denounced the poll as fraudulent and illegitimate and called for new elections.
- AFP