Preliminary results of Afghan presidential poll delayed by two days

Election commission says announcement delayed in order to accurately count votes.

ISLAMABAD:

Afghanistan’s electoral authorities have delayed the announcement of the complete preliminary results of the presidential elections by two days to recount votes.

“We have delayed the [announcement of] complete preliminary results in order to accurately count votes,” spokesman for Independent Election Commission (IEC) Noor Muhammad Noor told a news conference in Kabul on Wednesday. The IEC had earlier set April 24 for announcing the complete unofficial results of the April 5 presidential election.

“Around 98% of the votes cast in the polls have been counted so far,” Tolo television reported Noor as saying. Recounting was still under way at many polling stations, the spokesman said.



He added, however, that the third batch of preliminary results will be declared today (Thursday). The IEC has so far announced results based on 49.37% of the votes cast in the polls.

The results so far posted on the IEC website place Dr Abdullah Abdullah as the frontrunner for the country’s top slot with 44.4% votes. His rival, Dr Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, is not too far behind with 33.2% votes. Dr Zalmai Rassoul, although in third place, has only secured 10.4% so far.

The IEC says it has officially asked for a probe into irregularities at 1,446 polling stations. Votes from 666 polling stations from across the country have been submitted for recounting.

The results from these polling stations are not included in the aforementioned results.

After these audits and recounts are complete, the IEC shall determine and release preliminary election results.

On the other hand, in view of some criticism at the partial results, the election officials insist the results must not be considered final. In case of complaints and objections, they may be subjected to change, the IEC says.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2014.