Afghan election commission delays announcement of complete result by two days

ISLAMABAD: Afghan election authorities have delayed the announcement of the preliminary results of the April 5 presidential elections by two days due to the recounting of votes.

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) had previously set April 24 as the date for the announcement of the unofficial results.

Noor Mohammad Noor, the IEC spokesperson, has said that the third batch of the partial results will be declared on Thursday.

“We have delayed the complete preliminary results so we can accurately count the votes,” Noor told a news conference in Kabul, Tolo television reported.

Noor further stated that a total of 98 per cent of the votes have been counted thus far, and recounting of votes at other polling stations is also underway in Kabul.

So far, the IEC has declared a result of 49.67 per cent from all 34 of the country’s provinces.

According to the results posted on the IEC website, Dr Abdullah Abdullah has secured 44.4 per cent of the votes while his rival Dr Ashraf Ghani is placed second with 33.2 per cent.

Dr Zalmai Rassoul is in third position with only 10.4 per cent of the votes closely followed by former warlord Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf with 7 per cent.

The IEC has officially requested to probe into irregularities in 1,446 polling stations of over 6000 polling centers. Additionally, 666 polling stations from across the country have been submitted for recounts.

The results of these polling stations are not included in the aforementioned statistic (49.67%). Following the audits and the recounting of votes, the IEC will determine the results and partial and preliminary election results will be released.

The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) has been tasked with adjudicating complaints regarding the preliminary results for the April 5 polls.

The final results are scheduled to be announced by the IEC on May 14 after the adjudication is completed.

In view of some criticism of the partial results, election officials have insisted that the partial results must not be considered final as they are subject to change in case of complaints and objections, says the IEC.