<quotes>

KABUL - At the Afghan polling station called Haji Nehmetullah House, every
one of the 725 votes cast during the country's Aug. 20 election went to
President Hamid Karzai. At another site, Haji Akhtar Mohammad House, the
incumbent got each of the precisely 400 ballots cast.

Allegations of ballot box stuffing, voter intimidation and other fraud have
been lodged from all corners of the country following last month's
presidential contest. An Associated Press examination of returns shows what
officials said Monday appear to be highly suspicious - and improbable -
results.

Stations across Afghanistan's south gave Karzai 200, 250 or 500 votes,
according to figures compiled by the Independent Election Commission.
Observers say these neatly rounded numbers show patterns of fraud consistent
with allegations that large-scale vote rigging took place in dangerous
regions that observers couldn't reach.

At the Zoor District Center in Paktika province, Karzai got 300, 250, 200
and 200 votes at four of the center's six polling stations.

Afghan and international officials had predicted that vote fraud would
occur, but hoped the election would be credible overall. Instead, the scale
of the accusations and the questionable returns has thrown the ballot
process in doubt.

</quotes>

The scale of fraud does seem epic, 800 fake polling stations is imressive,
and sifting out the frudulent votes is going to be a tough job. And only
half the battle; while fraudulent votes may be detected and removed, it's
not so easy to credit missing votes.

With some observers suggesting the majority of voting returns are of
debatable legitimacy, and just a 10% swing ( on unofficial results so far )
would throw Karzai out of office, it seems unlikely that the election is
going to be seen as conclusive by a great number of Afghans.