KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- All parties to the Afghan electoral process should remain calm while monitors examine all of the emerging fraud claims, the top U.N. envoy said.
Several candidates in the Afghan presidential and provincial contests filed scores of official complaints in the Thursday vote. Charges range from voter intimidation to simple acts of vandalism.
Kai Eide, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, called for calm as election workers set about examining the complaints, the U.N. news agency reports.
"I say to candidates, campaigners, voters, and media, that you must respect this process," he said. "This is a critical part of it. Respect also means demonstrating patience."
The Afghan Electoral Complaints Commission said it was examining hundreds of complaints, including several that it said could have an impact on the results of the contest.
Afghans turned out to vote in modest numbers amid a looming threat from the Taliban insurgency. Voting in some of the more secure central provinces was relatively high, with minor turnout in the volatile south.
World leaders and international observers hailed the election as a success, however. It was the first democratic election conducted by Afghan officials.
Incumbent President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah issued rival claims of victory the day following the polls. With results trickling in, preliminary results show the contest is essentially tied.
