2004 November Elections
During the Afghanistan Presidential Elections, which was held on October 9, 2004, 18 candidates ran for President. Hamid Karzai and Yunus Qanuni were major nominees for President although Karzai won almost 3 times the amount of ballots. After accusations of a fraud circulating on the day of the election, up to 15 candidates decided to boycott the ballots but later cancelled as the UN declared to form an independent three-person panel. This three-person panel included two members selected by the United Nations, a Canadian Diplomat, a Swedish electoral expert, and a last member who was selected by the European Nation. There was controversy to whether the voting had been fair or not due to the fact that non-Afghan citizens could easily vote just by supplying a photo of themselves. Controversy had risen due to 12 candidates having less than 1% of the votes while Karzai had 55%.
During the Afghanistan Presidential Elections, which was held on October 9, 2004, 18 candidates ran for President. Hamid Karzai and Yunus Qanuni were major nominees for President although Karzai won almost 3 times the amount of ballots. After accusations of a fraud circulating on the day of the election, up to 15 candidates decided to boycott the ballots but later cancelled as the UN declared to form an independent three-person panel. This three-person panel included two members selected by the United Nations, a Canadian Diplomat, a Swedish electoral expert, and a last member who was selected by the European Nation. There was controversy to whether the voting had been fair or not due to the fact that non-Afghan citizens could easily vote just by supplying a photo of themselves. Controversy had risen due to 12 candidates having less than 1% of the votes while Karzai had 55%.