Observers Say DRC Election Results Lacks Credibility

Posted December 11th, 2011 at 11:10 am (UTC-5)
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A team of international election observers says the results of last month's disputed presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo were “mismanaged” and lack credibility.

The U.S.-based Carter Center said the vote, in which President Joseph Kabila was re-elected, was marred by wide variations in the quality of vote counting.

In a statement released late Saturday, the center said there was evidence that results from nearly 2,000 polling stations in the capital, Kinshasa, were lost. It said that multiple locations around the country reported 99-to-100 percent voter turnout, with most or all of the votes going to the incumbent president.

Congo's electoral commission declared Friday that Mr. Kabila was the winner of the November 29 poll. However, his top challenger, longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, has rejected the results and declared himself president.