**Afghanistan’s election commission has said it will open more polling stations in the presidential run-off than it did in the fraud-riddled first round.**The plan is at odds with a UN-backed panel’s recommendation to reduce the number of voting centres to cut fraud.
Incumbent President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah are competing in the 7 November run-off.
Hundreds of thousands of votes were deducted from the first round after investigations revealed fraud.
The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission’s (ECC) action meant Mr Karzai’s total was reduced to below the 50% plus one vote threshold for outright victory, indicating a second round was needed.
KARZAI V ABDULLAH
Hamid Karzai:
- First popularly elected president of Afghanistan
- Opposed Soviet occupation in 1980s
- Critics say he has done little to rein in corruption
Abdullah Abdullah:
- Tajik-Pashtun, doctor by profession
- Senior Northern Alliance leader during Taliban rule
- Removed from Karzai’s cabinet in 2006
The ECC recommended cutting the total number of voting centres for the run-off - from just above 6,000 to about 5,800 - to make sure there would be enough monitors and security.
However, the Independent Election Commission plans to open 6,322 voting centres, election official Zekria Barakzai said.
He said Afghan and international forces could provide security for as many as 6,600 centres.
The whole country will participate in the election, although winter weather and security concerns will exclude 11 districts, Mr Barakzai said, according to the Associated Press news agency.
The election plans were announced a day after Taliban militants attacked UN workers, killing at least five in a guesthouse in Kabul.