Votes from 69 more polling sites invalidated

KABUL) on Friday declared invalid votes from 69 polling centres and asked for an investigation into ballots from 1,164 others.

At a public hearing, the IEC found 1,807 votes valid, Deputy Chairman Abdul Rahman Hotaki told reporters in Kabul. Votes from 496 of the 3,000 polling stations needed to be audited, he said.  

The audit and recount of votes from 628 polling centres is ongoing. From the 69 polling stations, 10,026 ballots stood invalidated, he said.

Under the relevant law, both campaigns could lodge complaints with the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) within 24-hour. 

The commission had found invalid ballots from 82 polling stations during the auditing and recounting process, he added.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Friday more than 76 percent of the votes cast in the presidential polls had been audited and recounted — a process that is smoothly moving well.

IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told reporters in Kabul 76.25 percent — or 17865 ballot boxes — were scrutinised as of Thursday evening.

The commission was determined to ensure accuracy in its work, conclude the audit in a transparent fashion and unveil the final election results as soon as possible, the spokesman continued.

rm/mud