http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-27-voa44.cfm Voice of America is currently featuring this story about Macedonian election fraud. Maybe the front-runners in Macedonia aren't the U.S.-preferred candidates.
Ethnic Albanians Boycott Macedonian Elections Marred by Reports of Voting Irregularities
By Stefan Bos
Budapest
27 March 2005Polling stations closed in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia late Sunday after run-off municipal elections which was
marred by reports of voting irregularities. The main ethnic Albanian party boycotted the election. Sunday's municipal elections were clouded by reports of attempts to manipulate voters and tamper with ballot boxes in several communities during the second and final round of Macedonia's municipal elections. Officials said police arrested two men on charges of manipulating ballots near the northern town of Kumanovo, and a similar incident was reported in southern Macedonia.
International observers reported the first round of local elections held two weeks ago was
also marked by irregularities, including violence or threats from gunmen and vote rigging. These incidents forced the Supreme Court to order a repeat of first-round voting in 33 polling stations at 10 municipalities, including the capital, Skopje, and in the second-largest municipality, Tetovo.
Analyst Ana Petruseva, of the independent Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Skopje, told VOA the irregularities could deal a major blow to the country's ambitions to join NATO and the European Union. "Having in mind that this year this local elections might be the key thing for the EU when they judge our application for membership and it might prove fatal for our hopes to get a positive and gain the status of a candidate country," he said.
The reported vote rigging prompted the main ethnic Democratic Party of Albanians to boycott the ballot. The party accused the authorities of not being able to guarantee free and fair elections for the country's more than 500,000 ethnic Albanians, who comprise roughly 25 percent of the total population.
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