Does anyone actually believe democracy exists in Afghanistan? If democracy is defined purely in terms of the existence of elections—that is, people vote—then fine. People in Afghanistan do vote. In the most recent presidential elections, incumbent Hamid Karzai faced former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Karzai defeated his challenger only after less than half of the Afghan population voted, allegations of ballot fraud were ignored, and Abdullah finally withdrew from the race, arguing that a runoff election between himself and Karzai would inevitably be wrought with the same high-levels of fraud that plagued the initial contest.
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