Excerpt from AP video of Special Representative Holbrooke's press conference in Paris, France
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HOLBROOKE: We have no candidates and no preference as to whether there is a first-round victory or a runoff. That is for the process to determine. Our advocacy is for a fair process overseen by the Independent Election Commission, taking into account the decisions of the Election Complaints Commission, a process which then elects a government that is legitimate and reflects the will of the people who voted.
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HOLBROOKE: During that process there are going to be many claims of irregularities; that happens in every democracy. We recently had a senatorial election in Minnesota which took seven months to determine the outcome, there were so many charges of irregularities. It certainly won't take that long in Afghanistan, but that happens in democracies, even when they are not in the middle of a war.
