Afghanistan delays election results til November

KABUL – Afghan officials have set a new date for announcing the result of last month’s presidential election, after several delays.

Hawa Alam Nuristani, head of the Independent Election Commission, says Sunday preliminary results will be announced on Nov. 14.

The initial deadline for sharing the results was delayed as the commission dealt with widespread accusations of misconduct in the polling, and technical problems with transferring ballot papers and data from a biometric system.

Afghans voted Sept. 28 despite Taliban threats and violence. The lead candidates are President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who have led together a fragile coalition government.

If no candidate obtains over 50% in the results, a second round of voting will be held.