Afghan Election Dispute Forcing Western Officials to Take a Stand --- KABUL, Afghanistan — A growing number of Western officials are calling for an audit of the ballots cast in the Afghan presidential election, increasing the likelihood that the nation’s electoral commission will have to formally reassess the June 14 runoff vote even as it prepares to announce preliminary results. -- Ever since Afghans voted in the runoff, the system has been deadlocked by allegations of widespread fraud. The presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has consistently complained that his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, with the help of the commission and other Afghan officials, rigged the vote. -- Mr. Abdullah spent weeks threatening to walk away from the process, and his brinkmanship now appears to be paying off. The continued political crisis has forced some international figures off the bench, despite earlier efforts to avoid the appearance of involvement in the Afghan elections. --- Now, seemingly recognizing the potential that the political crisis has to turn violent and threaten long-term Western interests in Afghanistan, more international officials are starting to get involved. The most recent voice was that of Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, who spoke to reporters in Kabul on Sunday. -- Joined by the American ambassador, James B. Cunningham, Mr. Levin raised the prospect of a dual announcement on Monday, in which Afghan officials would both release preliminary results and announce an audit that would be satisfactory to both candidates. --- Just hours later, however, Mr. Abdullah pressed the commission to delay the release until fraudulent ballots have been identified and discarded. While there have been no official results, leaked reports suggested that Mr. Ghani had reversed Mr. Abdullah’s lead from the first round and was ahead in the vote count. --- Officials from Mr. Abdullah’s campaign also indicated that the two sides had not reached an agreement on the extent of the audit. -- It was unclear whether the election commission would go through with the release, as promised. The commission has so far delayed results on more than one occasion to help ease the political crisis. --- Senator Levin, who warned of dire consequences if the election did not proceed, was only the latest American official to visit Kabul in the past few weeks. Ambassador James Dobbins, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan who announced last week that he is stepping down, was recently in town to urge the candidates to stick with the process. -- After Mr. Dobbins came two Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who encouraged a thorough audit and also made clear that American aid for Afghanistan would almost certainly dry up if the political crisis was not resolved. - More, NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/world/asia/western-officials-press-for-audit-of-afghan-presidential-vote.html?_r=0#