Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 10/05/05 7:54 am:
I think it's serious. Why is everyone so cavalier??

I was waiting for the facts . Vote fraud has been alleged in the last 4 election cycles in this country and they are usually without much merit or concern. I suspect something simular there . The out comes appear to be mirroring Afghani society . The war lords who ran for the parliment appear to have won . I would expect no less ;they were the ones who actively opposed the Soviets in the 80s and many of them actively fought the Taliban during the invasion . Many of them have earned the honor . Societal transformation takes time;but mixed in those results was a real strong showing by women candidates .

Staffan Darnolf, a member of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems that observed the Afghan election, considered the election a success.

Peter Erben, head of the UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) told reporters that reported irregularities seemed minor in comparison to other post-conflict elections."I don't believe that these irregularities give any reason to doubt the overall integrity of the elections," said Erben.

Even the EU observers who stated their concerns admitted that "these phenomena do not appear to be nationwide "

According to Erbin 4 per cent of the 26,000 ballot boxes collected were put aside due to suspicion of vote-tampering and ballot-stuffing. That does not sound irregular to me .

There were also cases of violence as the Taliban tried to disrupt the election . They failed just like Zarqwai is failing in Iraq. Even the doom and gloom press had to admit that there was alot less violence than expected .