(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) KABUL (Pajhwok): Election watchdogs and residents of some provinces on Sunday said the Independent Election Commission (IEC) failed to manage the Wolesi Jirga elections.
Apart from Kandahar and Ghazni provinces, the Woelsi Jirga polls were held in all other 32 provinces of the country on Saturday.
Despite high turnout, the voting was extended to a second day on Sunday due to technical problems, disorder and mismanagement.
Residents of different areas criticized the IEC for failing to discharge its responsibilities properly.
Mariam, a resident of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, who voted on Saturday, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the voting process in the beginning faced some technical problems but later the voting turned normal.
She said unfamiliarity of IEC workers with biometric devices was reason behind mismanagement in the voting process.
€œIn the past elections, we saw serious fraud in this polling station, but rigging was controlled this time with the help of biometric system€, she added.
Najibullah, a resident of Charbolak district of Balkh, said he obtained voter card but did not vote in what he said symbolic election.
He said the IEC had to open 13 polling stations in their district but it opened only two stations.
€˜Many people like me was deprived of voting due to lack of management,€ he said.
A number of residents of Kunduz province also said the voting process in their province was full of challenges as some polling stations faced technical problems while others did not receive electoral materials.
Enayatullah Khaliq, a civil society activist in Kunduz, said election workers were not trained properly as they did not know how to use the biometric system.
Sharifullah, a resident of Uruzgan province, said more people did not participate in elections as expected.
He said 60,000 people had registered in the voter registration process but only a small number of them voted due to bad management of the election process.
In Paroon, the capital of eastern Nuristan province, the election process struggled with some problems but later they were resolved, said Nimatullah, a resident.
Abdul Wakil, a resident of Pul-i-Khumri city, the capital of northern Baghlan province, told Pajhwok weak management of IEC officials marred the voting and most of people were unable to cast their votes. He said at many polling stations names of voters were missing from voters lists.
Bashirullah, a resident of Matoon area of Khost city, the capital of southeastern Khost province, said the elections were transparent and this time their province would introduce eligible figures to the Wolesi Jirga.
Saifurahman, another resident of the same province, said he did not want to vote but when he heard about biometric system then he changed his mind and cast his vote.
Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FIFA) head Yousuf Rashid told Pajhwok the election process was bad in terms of management. Rashid said yesterday (Saturday) was a chaotic day.
He said unawareness with biometric systems, lack of time and mismanagement were major issues that obstructed the election process.
He said the IEC should have provided one extra biometric set to each polling station so if one did not work the other could be used.
Mohammad Naeem Ayubzadah, TIFA€™s head, said a large number of people participated in the election process despite security threats. He said due to IEC weakness most of people were deprived of casting their votes.
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