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Report: Afghan Runoff Needed

Elections

Says Karzai won only 48 percent of vote.

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Musadeq Sadeq / AP Photo

After eight weeks of investigating the country's presidential election results, a five-member audit committee submitted its report Monday, and a Western official said it seemed to indicate that President Hamid Karzai had won roughly 48 percent of the vote. If that number is indeed correct, a runoff between Karzai and his main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, is mandated by the country's constitution to take place within two weeks. However, some are worried that Karzai, whose representatives have criticized the audit committee's work, will reject the findings. Still, one Western official said Karzai seemed to accept the committee's findings: "Enough is enough," the official said, adding that "in the last 72 hours, I think even Karzai got the message."

Read it at The New York Times