CINCINNATI, Ohio (Reuters) -- Afghan officials need to address allegations of vote fraud in order to assure a legitimate outcome of their presidential election, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has said.
"The Afghans are counting votes.... They've got to address any accusations that are out there and assure people of the legitimacy of the election," Gibbs told reporters during a trip by President Barack Obama to Cincinnati, Ohio on September 7.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai leads the count with slightly less than 75 percent of polling stations tallied. Election officials have annulled results from about 2 percent of polling stations after investigating indications of fraud.
More than 2,000 complaints have been raised with a separate electoral commission.