From the Washington Times:

KABUL (AP) — Election workers began recounting ballots from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election Monday, and a senior official said he expected to announce late next week whether President Hamid Karzai had won or would face a runoff with his main rival.
A U.N.-backed commission ordered a partial recount from about 10 percent of the country’s polling stations after allegations of widespread fraud in the vote, which was supposed to install a legitimate government to confront the growing Taliban threat.
However, vote-rigging allegations have plunged Afghanistan into an electoral crisis at a time when Taliban militants are expanding from their southern strongholds into the north and west of the country. . . .
Preliminary results released last month showed Karzai won the August balloting with 54.6 percent, enough to avoid a runoff with second place finisher Abdullah Abdullah. A recount could push down Karzai’s numbers down below the 50 percent mark and force a runoff with Abdullah, a former foreign minister.
If a runoff were required, Barakzai said it must be held within two to three weeks of the announcement of the final results. Winter snows typically start in mid-November, making much of the country impassable.
Waiting for spring to hold the poll could create a power vacuum in a country already destabilized by the resurgent Taliban and delay both government projects and military operations.