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Afghanistan's next president will be decided in June 14 runoff election

Afghanistan will hold a runoff presidential election on June 14, the election commission announced Thursday, because neither of the two front-runner candidates captured more than 50 percent of the April 5 vote.

By JC Finley
An Afghan woman casts her ballot for the parliamentary elections in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 18, 2010. (UPI/Hossein Fatemi)
An Afghan woman casts her ballot for the parliamentary elections in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 18, 2010. (UPI/Hossein Fatemi) | License Photo

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 15 (UPI) -- Afghanistan's election commission announced Thursday that no presidential candidate in the April 5 election had secured enough votes to be declared victor, and that a runoff was necessary to determine the next president of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's elecoral rules dictate that a candidate must obtain more than 50 percent of the vote to win a first-round election.

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Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah secured 45 percent of the April vote and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani garnered 31.6 percent of the votes.

The runoff will be held on June 14.

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