Ballots from about 10 percent of Afghanistan's polling stations need recounting because of suspicions of fraud, the country's chief election watchdog said Sept. 15, increasing the chances that President Hamid Karzai could face a runoff.

Afghanistan's second direct presidential vote, a critical test of the West's effort to foster democracy in the country, has been tainted by allegations of massive fraud and the final results, which were to be announced Sept. 17, may be weeks away.

Repeated delays in announcing full results from the Aug. 20 presidential vote, along with mounting evidence of fraud, have raised fears of new political instability in Afghanistan at a time of rising Taliban violence and an increased U.S. military presence.

The latest partial results from more than two dozen candidates have Karzai with 54 percent and leading challenger Abdullah Abdullah with 28 percent. The president seems on the path to outright victory — unless the votes eliminated over fraud complaints pull him back down below the 50 percent threshold requiring a runoff.

The current results reflect 93 percent of polling stations.