Afghan vote fraud claims soar

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KABUL, Aug 31 (AFP): Allegations of election fraud in Afghanistan soared Monday ahead of the release of a fourth tranche of results from presidential polls in which incumbent Hamid Karzai is apparently cruising towards victory.
Officials are to announce results from around half of polling stations later Monday following Afghanistan's second direct presidential vote, which was overshadowed by an escalating Taliban insurgency and abysmal turnout.
Complaints of fraud are flooding in daily to Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), which is scrambling to investigate more than 2,500 allegations that fraud compromised the August 20 elections.