The first round of voting on August 20 was marred by widespread fraud, which mostly benefited Mr.Karzai.

VOA: standard.2009.11.27

Neither candidate was able to win an outright majority in the first round of voting June 20th.

VOA: standard.2010.07.03

Before the first round of voting, opinion polls had placed Komorowksi firmly in the lead.

VOA: standard.2010.07.03

About 3,000 foreign election observers declared that, despite a few irregularities, the first round of Ukraine's presidential election on January 17 met international standards for honesty.

VOA: standard.2010.02.01

One of the opposition candidates in the first round of voting was killed by military police who said he was resisting arrest on suspicion of plotting a coup.

VOA: standard.2009.07.26

Afghanistan's first round of voting in August was marred by widespread fraud.

VOA: standard.2009.10.21

Reports from the first round of voting detailed a number of violent attacks by the Taliban, including rocket fire and the amputations of ink-stained fingers on voters' hands.

VOA: standard.2009.10.24

In the first round of the 2008 Major League Soccer draft, Espinoza was selected by the Kansas City Wizards, and has become a regular performer for the MLS team.

VOA: standard.2010.06.09

Croatia's electoral commission says Social Democrat candidate Ivo Josipovic won the most votes in the first round of Croatia's presidential poll with more than 32 percent of the vote.

VOA: standard.2009.12.28

This year's vote lacked the suspense of some previous elections, because all five candidates were unopposed and succeeded in getting the two-thirds majority required in the first round of secret ballots.

VOA: standard.2009.10.15

EU Finance Commissioner Olli Rehn made the call after a first round of talks with Greek officials amid growing market expectations of a trade-off between new deficit cutting steps and practical EU support for Greek borrowing.

VOA: standard.2010.03.01

This one of our ways of being a part of that. It's disheartening to see we lost the first round,"

VOA: standard.2009.10.02

In Ukraine,presidential contenders Tymoshenko and Yanukovych have been seeking the support of candidates they defeated in the first round, especially Serhiy Tihipko.

VOA: standard.2010.02.01

The lead up to Afghanistan's second round of voting is beginning much like the first round under the Taliban's threats of violence.

VOA: standard.2009.10.24

U.S.Special Envoy on Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke believes the second round of voting will be cleaner than the first.

VOA: standard.2009.10.28

He added that the second round must not be a repeat of the first.

VOA: standard.2009.10.20

In the first round, more than a million ballots, most of them for Mr.Karzai, were declared fraudulent by the U.N.-run Election Complaints Commission, depriving Mr.Karzai of what he claimed was an outright electoral victory.

VOA: standard.2009.10.28

The Spanish picked up the pressure in the second half, but were unable to find their way through the U.S.defense, which was bolstered by the return of captain Carlos Bocanegra, who was missing from first round matches with a hamstring injury.

VOA: standard.2009.06.24