U.N. predicts Afghan presidential vote audit to take until Sept. 10

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Jan Kubis, the United Nations special representative for Afghanistan, informed Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday that the country's presidential vote audit is expected to conclude on September 10.

The U.N. official spoke with Karzai at the Arg presidential palace in Kabul. In a statement released by the palace, Kubis told Karzai that the audit might conclude by September 2, but that it will likely take more time and predicted results would be available on the 10th.

The offered timeline comes a day after the U.N. reaffirmed its commitment to completing the task of supervising the vote audit despite the withdrawal of the two candidates from the process.

Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani have both claimed victory in the June run-off presidential election and have also agreed to serve together in a national unity government, but have not yet agreed to the terms for doing so.

The audit was agreed to last month, and will determine which candidate from the June 14 run-off election succeeds Karzai. Preliminary election results showed former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani in the lead with 56.44 percent of the vote, and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah trailing behind with 43.56 percent.