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

148 IEC Staff in Kandahar Fail to Show up on Election Day

148 IEC Staff in  Kandahar Fail to Show  up on Election Day

KABUL - Officials from the Independent Election Commission’s (IEC) regional office in Kandahar said Sunday that 148 IEC staff members failed to report to their polling centers or stations in the province on Saturday, citing security threats and a “lack of appropriate privileges” as the reason.
Parliamentary elections were held on Saturday in Kandahar, a week after the rest of the country. The delay came in the wake of the assassination of Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq.
Residents meanwhile also complained about the late opening of polling centers – which were supposed to open their doors to voters at 7am.
But some polling stations and centers had still not opened by 8am – despite dozens of people having lined up from early Saturday morning.
Voters also complained about problems with the voter lists and said that there had been problems with the biometric system.
Residents said some polling stations opened late and voter material also only arrived late at some centers. 
“There were problems with the voter’s registration lists, some (sections of the) alphabet were missing and people were disappointed and left the process without casting their votes,” Rohullah a resident of Kandahar said.
“When we went to register our complaints, but no one was ready to register our complaints,” Mahbob another resident said.
Meanwhile, the regional IECC office says that it has registered dozens of complaints against violations, challenges and election violations on election day.
“Most of the complaints are against the voter’s registration lists, the second complaints were against the observers - that some observers were encouraging people to vote for their favorite candidates - but the main challenge was the late opening of the stations and the lack of materials,” said Karimullah Stanikzai head of IECC regional office.
But the local IEC office said the election had been a success.
“Only 10 percent of our polling station was not active at 7am due to security measures in the city because the staff at some stations arrived late,” said Nimatullah Wardak head of the IEC regional office.
At the same time, on election day, several security threats were reported.
“The enemy was active on election day, but our brave security forces discovered and defused several mines in several districts and Kandahar city,” said Rahmatullah Atrafi police security chief of Kandahar.
“Despite Taliban threats our security forces were able to prevent the enemy (from carrying out) such threats,” said Abdul Hanan Munib Kandahar’s acting-governor. (Tolo news)