Kenya vote: Does a 'spoiled' ballot count?

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- As votes are counted in Kenya's presidential race, the issue of more than 300,000 "spoiled ballots" is emerging as a potentially thorny legal question.

Partial returns Tuesday showed the presidential candidate who faces charges at the International Criminal Court -- Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta -- taking an early lead over Prime Minster Raila Odinga.

More than 320,000 ballots have been thrown out for not following election rules. Election officials will have to decide if those "spoiled" ballots will count as cast ballots. If they do, it will make it difficult for a candidate, under the constitution's rules, to win 50 percent of the vote in the first round, making a run-off likely. The constitution says a candidate must win more than 50 percent of the votes cast.