KABUL - The comprehensive audit of votes cast during the runoff election will begin at the central office of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Kabul on Thursday, according to officials. The IEC will take the lead in the process, it will be monitored by the Unites Nations (UN).

According to the election commissions, around 100 groups of two or three people have been formed to audit the ballot boxes, totaling just over eight million votes in all.

"By God willing, the audit process begins tomorrow," IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said at a press conference on Wednesday. "All the observers can monitor the process and there are no restrictions on them."

The audit was a central part of the deal made between Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Abdullah Abdullah over the weekend when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry came to Afghanistan to diffuse the election crisis. Their agreement included the conditions that the IEC reassess all votes before announcing a final result and do so under the supervision of the United Nations, along with the normal observers from Afghan civil society groups and the candidates' camps.

The IEC announced on Wednesday that the commission, in coordination with candidates, had finalized the auditing procedure they planned to use.

The procedure is said to be guided by the following questions:

• Are the boxes those which were distributed by the commission?
• Are the boxes safe?
• Do the boxes have tags including information about centers and polling?
• How many locks do the boxes have and are they safe?
• Can we open the locks by hand?
• Does the number of ones with locks match up with the numbers written on the result sheets?
• Are the copies of result sheets inside the boxes?
• Are their unused and invalid ballot papers inside the boxes?
• Do the ballot papers in favor of a candidate include stamps?
• Are the markings on the used ballot papers very similar?
• Are the ballot papers signed according to the commission's procedures?
• Is there evidence proving differences between result sheets and the number of used papers inside boxes?
• Are the copies of the result sheets the same as the results that were logged at vote counting centers?
• Are the journal and list of voters available?

The IEC has said that the votes of centers where a particular candidate got significantly more votes in the runoff than the first round will be audited as well, a condition that Ashraf Ghani's team had originally rejected during talks with Abdullah's camp prior to the arrival of Secretary Kerry.

As the audit begins in the Kabul office of the IEC on Thursday, so to will the process of transferring ballot boxes from the provinces to the capital. Based on the agreement brokered by Mr. Kerry, the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) will oversee the transportation of the boxes.

Whether the audit process will significantly impact the results of the election remains to be seen. However, it is clear that had it not been for the audit, the election standoff would have likely continued, with Abdullah boycotting the process and decrying it as illegitimate on the basis of supposed fraud.

Election monitoring groups have expressed optimism regarding the start of the audit process, and how the rival campaigns would treat it moving forward.

"I have to believe it will be acceptable since they agreed to abide by the outcome of the audit and the audit will proceed under the cooperation of the international community and the Afghan institutions and therefore, we encourage and we hope and we expect that the campaigns will abide by the outcome," Democracy International's Gregory Minjack said.

The audit process could take up to three weeks. The final result of the presidential runoff would then be announced once complaints are addressed by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). (Tolonews)