The editorial claims officials of the JEMB have "been criticized" for fraud, adding that the "level of fraud and offenses during the elections and vote count is too great to be ignored" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 October 2005). The protests and popular dissatisfaction with the electoral process are fostering "hatred and anger toward both the national and foreign authorities" working for the JEMB, "Arman-e Melli" adds.
Evidence so far "includes the stealing of ballot boxes, using fake ballot papers, changing the results of the vote count, and the buying and selling of people's votes," the paper says, before concluding that popular disdain for the electoral process "will undermine the partial reputation and credibility of our still-nascent democracy." AT
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