SNAP ANALYSIS - U.N. watchdog submits Afghan fraud findings

By Jonathon Burch

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's U.N.-backed election watchdog sent its ruling over fraud investigations into the August presidential poll to the country's election commission on Monday, but a solution to the crisis seemed no nearer.

Here are a few insights into the Electoral Complaints Commission's (ECC) findings:

* The ruling by the U.N.-backed ECC does not say explicitly whether Karzai has won in a single round or whether enough of his votes have been disqualified to bring his total under the 50 percent level that would trigger a second round.

* The ruling consists of several detailed documents listing how many votes the ECC considered to be fraudulent and therefore how many votes the government-appointed Independent Election Commission (IEC) must deduct from the provisional results.

* Diplomats said the findings, which throw out thousands of votes from the election, effectively pave the way for a run-off.

* The ECC says that Afghan law now requires the IEC to adjust the preliminary result and announce a final result.

* If it does go to a second round, Afghan election law calls for it to be held within two weeks of the final result being announced. In any case, a second round would have to be held by the middle of November at the latest before the harsh Afghan winter makes many parts of the country inaccessible.

* For any legitimate second round to take place and to avoid further weeks of delay, election officials will need to show what additional safeguards are in place to avoid a repeat of the widespread fraud which marred the first round. * Any second round also carries major security implications. While unable to completely disrupt the election process on Aug. 20, Taliban insurgents staged several attacks around the country, keeping many voters away from polling stations. A second day of voting would almost certainly risk fresh violence.