POST-ELECTION POSTURING: ABDULLAH SAYS FRAUD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002479

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: POST-ELECTION POSTURING: ABDULLAH SAYS FRAUD
"WIDESPREAD"

REF: KABUL 2468

Classified By: PolCouns Annie Pforzheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Presidential Candidate Dr. Abdullah
Abdullah told CODEL Casey on August 23 he could no longer
"turn his eye" from widespread election irregularities, in
particular in the southern provinces. His biggest concern
remains polling centers in the south claiming 40-45 percent
voter turnout, when "all observers" saw actual turnout at
less than 10 percent. He said he "had faith in the Electoral
Complaints Commission (ECC)," but that the votes from these
suspicious voting centers must be quarantined and not
announced as part of the election results. He claimed Karzai
was behind the fraud. He said he asked his followers to "be
patient" until official numbers were announced, noting that
it would be irresponsible to call his people to protest in
such a fragile country. However, he said if the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC) included the fraudulent votes, he
was "unsure" what his people would do. End Summary.

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FRAUD "WIDESPREAD"
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2. (C) Abdullah told CODEL Casey on August 23 that he is
most concerned about possible ballot stuffing in Kandahar,
Ghazni, and Khost provinces, but also noted irregularities in
Helmand, Paktya and Paktika. He claimed voter turnout in
Kandahar, for example, was less than 10 percent, but some
polling results claimed a 40-45 percent voter turnout. He
repeated a concern he had voiced earlier (reftel) that his
agents were not accredited until the day before the
elections, preventing them from traveling in time to remote
polling centers, and were "blocked by government officials"
from entering six districts in Kandahar. He said a prominent
pro-Karzai local commander in Kandahar was responsible,
noting that a polling center was located in this commander's
house. He claimed that in 46 other cases in Kandahar,
polling centers were inappropriately located in someone's
home, noting most of the homes belonged to Karzai-supporters.


3. (C) Abdullah stated to the CODEL that he could "not turn
his eye away from widespread irregularities." He said if it
had been more limited, he would not have made statements to
the press. However, he said, in the past day the reports he
received from his polling agents and local supporters in the
provinces forced him to take a stronger stance. He said in
order to save "the process and Afghanistan," any suspicious
votes should be quarantined by the ECC, and not counted in
the initial voting estimates on August 25. (Note: The 25
August announcement is just the beginning of the IEC rolling
count that will produce full provisional results on about 3N 02 OF 02 KABUL 002479

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: POST-ELECTION POSTURING: ABDULLAH SAYS FRAUD
"WIDESPREAD"

claimed 10,000 people were counted voting, while 100,000
votes were supposedly cast. Abdullah also said he is
exploring the possibility of a coalition candidacy in the
case that the election went into a second round.


6. (U) CODEL Casey cleared on this cable.
EIKENBERRY

KABUL 00002479 002 OF 002


claimed 10,000 people were counted voting, while 100,000
votes were supposedly cast. Abdullah also said he is
exploring the possibility of a coalition candidacy in the
case that the election went into a second round.


6. (U) CODEL Casey cleared on this cable.
EIKENBERRY