Afghanistan conducts elections, with a hitch:
But chaos enveloped the fragile election after all 15 candidates challenging the incumbent ruler, Hamid Karzai, declared they were boycotting the poll over alleged voter fraud. UN and Afghan officials rejected the call, insisting that difficulties involving indelible ink did not warrant abandoning the historic vote. The controversy surfaced within hours of the polls opening yesterday morning, when voters in several areas complained that ink used by election officials to stain people’s fingers – to prevent multiple voting – easily rubbed off.
Sounds like Afghans, with their invisible ink, experienced the 18th century equivalent of America’s Diebold electronic voting system. Something which you think should be permanent mysteriously vanishes. Our elections have something in common after all.