(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) KABUL (Pajhwok): The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Sunday acknowledged problems plagued some polling stations and announced counting 80 percent of all the votes cast so far.
The IEC also said some figures deliberately tried to create confusion about the elections for their own interests.
Voting in the long due Wolesi Jirga elections kicked off on Saturday morning across the country, but some polling stations remained closed due to violence and technical problems, therefore the IEC said voting would continue in such stations on Sunday.
IEC chief Abdul Baday Sayyad, speaking at a press conference here, said voting resumed on Sunday in polling stations which were closed on Saturday.
Despite having programs for transparency in elections, technical and management problems delayed voting in some polling stations, for which the IEC apologizes, he said.
However, he said: €œThose trying to confuse people€™s mind about the polls and create problems for the democratic process are those who see elections against their personal interests, they appear on TV screens and accuse the IEC of mismanagement, we ask them to avoid such statements because the commission has improved its capacity much better from zero.€
He said despite security threats, millions of Afghans participated in the polls and everything went according to the law.
€œWe hired schoolteachers as polling site officers because the law requires so,€ he said.
Sayyad said teachers were not given enough time by the Ministry of Education to receive better training in managing polling stations and using biometric system.
Some workers were absent possibly due to negligence or security situation but it was not a problem of the IEC, he added.
He said insecurity and powerful candidates were among reasons that brought troubles to the voting process.
Some strongmen contesting the elections tried to make minds the biometric system did not work properly because they wanted to rig the ballot, claimed Sayyad.
He said some electoral watchdogs and political parties also did not oversee the election process or help stop rigging as they were expected and they only started blaming the IEC for mismanagement.
Sayyad said ballot boxes had been transferred from districts to provincial capitals and the result sheets would be reaching Kabul in few days.
He said 80 percent of the votes cast were counted on Saturday night and the counting process was delayed in a few stations where voting continued until late night.
MENAFN2210201801740000ID1097603479
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.