KABUL - The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday announced the final results from the provincial council elections that were held seven months ago.

IEC Chairman Ahmad Yousaf Nuristani, unveiling the outcome at a news conference in Kabul, said 458 candidates, including 97 women, had found their way to provincial councils.

The commission will place the results on its website two hours after their announcement. Nuristani said 19,785 polling sites had opened on the voting day, with no ballots cast at 74 polling stations.

Among males, the biggest winner polled 21,420 votes and the worst loser got only two ballots. Among females, one contender won 9,409 to emerge on the top. Another settled for 124 ballots to finish at the rock bottom.

The delay has been linked to technical problems, including a mechanism for vote invalidation, and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission’s failure to send the IEC a list of candidate names.

A joint committee of the two panels had concluded its work on Friday on dealing with technical issues in compiling the results. As many as 2,600 candidates, including 308 women, contested the provincial council elections that were held on April 5, simultaneously with the first round of the presidential ballot.

In the preliminary result announced by the IEC on May 20, 458 candidates were declared successful. The final results, originally scheduled for June 7, were delayed. (Pajhwok)