Afghan Leader Says Election ‘Fair’

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s first direct presidential election was thrust into turmoil hours after it started Saturday when all 15 candidates challenging interim leader Hamid Karzai alleged fraud over the ink meant to ensure people voted only once and vowed to boycott the results.

But electoral officials rejected the candidates’ call to abandon the rest of the balloting, saying it would rob millions of voters of their chance to cast ballots and that they would rule later on the legitimacy of the election.

“Halting the vote at this stage is unjustified and would deny these people their right to vote,” said Ray Kennedy, the vice chairman of the joint U.N.-Afghan panel overseeing the election. “There have been some technical problems but overall it has been safe and orderly.”

Karzai said the fate of the vote was in the hands of the electoral body, but he added that in his view “the election was free and fair … it is very legitimate”

“Who is more important, these 15 candidates, or the millions of people who turned out today to vote?” Karzai said. “Both myself and all these 15 candidates should respect our people – because in the dust and snow and rain, they waited for hours and hours to vote.”