Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

IEC Assesses 7,000 Polling Centers Nationwide

IEC Assesses 7,000 Polling Centers Nationwide

KABUL - The head of IEC sectaries says the way to prepare the voters’ list has been opened as 7,000 polling centers were assessed in 34 provinces.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) says the assessment of 7,000 polling centers has been completed in 34 provinces, but the centers in 33 districts were not assessed due to security issues.
“There are places where government has no control over them, but the locals and local councils have taken technical teams with them to their areas and the team have returned safely after the assessment (of polling centers in those areas),” the head of IEC secretariat Imam Mohammad Warimach told TOLOnews on Friday.
Election monitoring organizations criticized the IEC over the assessment of polling centers areas which are out of government’s control, saying that holding election in those centers will be a big problem for the electoral process.
“They (IEC) say 33 districts are insecure, but we believe the number of is much more. In these districts, it is better to use technological packages,” said Habibullah Shinwari, member of the Election Watch Organization of Afghanistan (EWA).
“Taliban’s control in a number of areas will pave the way for extensive fraud and it will result in big political crisis,” Zabihullah Farhang, a political activist, said.
However, Warimach said the first steps to prepare the voters’ list and hold the upcoming parliamentary elections has been taken by the IEC.
“We hope that government purchases the equipment for the commission and after that we will prepare the voters’ list which is an important part of the process and will help us to ensure elections’ transparency,” he said.
The parliamentary and district councils’ elections are scheduled to be held next year in July.  (Tolonews)