Preliminary results not include votes of 444 sites

KABUL) on Sunday said votes cast at 444 polling centres for presidential candidates were still being investigated and had not been incorporated in the preliminary results.

IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told Pajhwok Afghan News a report about audits into the suspicious ballots would be given to the Independent Electoral Commission to take a decision on their fate.

“There are 444 polling centres which have different problems. For instance, we have received result sheets from some polling centres, where no voting had taken place and there are blank votes in some instances,” he said.

Under the existing mechanism, Noor said once the results were announced, then no change could be brought to the outcome, adding the 444 centres had many problems on which the IECC should take a decision. He said the said centres were different provinces, but he had no exact information about the number of votes cast in those sites.

A day earlier, IEC chief Ahmad Yousaf Nuristani, announcing the preliminary results, said if the elections went to a runoff that would take place on June 7. But the Constitution says a runoff should take place within two weeks of the final results due on May 14.

Noor said funds for a runoff election had already been set aside in the election budget and the April 5 elections cost $127 million.

About results of the provincial council elections, Noor said result sheets from provinces had reached the IEC main office and work was underway to enter them into the data system.

“Ballots from all the provinces have been delivered. The second phase is to scan the votes and that stage is almost complete. But there are five more stages which remain and work on them is ongoing,” he said, adding the results from the provincial council polls would be announced 20 days later.

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