98pc of polling centres opened on time: TEFA

KABUL (TEFA) on Saturday said 98 percent of polling stations opened on time, with 99.5 percent security personnel and 98.8 percent election workers present at polling sites.

A statement from TEFA said they obtained this information from 5,200 trained observers who started their work at 6:30am in all 34 provinces of the country.

Based on TEFA observers, representatives of candidates and political parties as well as election oversight institutes were present at 93 percent of polling sites, it added.

TEFA findings show 96.8 percent of polling sites had the required sensitive and non-sensitive materials and biometric devices were present at 98.9 percent of the sites.

TEFA observers started their duty at 6:30am across the country but they could not monitor two percent of the polling sites in the beginning in Faryab, Herat, Kunar and Ghor provinces as they were not allowed to do so.

TEFA said the absence of workers, security threats and the late arrival of sensitive and other materials at the sites were the main reasons for the opening of some of the stations behind schedule.

The absence of voter names from the lists stored in biometric devices was a huge challenge, the statement said.

According to reports, the problem was encountered at 88 percent of polling sites across the country, with many voters returning home without casting their ballots.

The source said there was also a difference between the number of people gathered at a site and the number of voters registered there.

Citing an example, TEFA said, 2,500 voters stood in queues at a polling centre, where only 380 people had been registered as voters in the Shahrak-i-Muhajerin area of Ghazni City.

TEFA said the turnout of women voters in Khost, Paktia, Jawzjan, Ghazni, Nimroz, Paktika, Badakhshan, Kabul, Takhar, Farah, Kandahar and Sar-i-Pul provinces was very low.

Women at some polling stations did not allow election workers to take their photos, particularly in the Dara Zindan area of Samangan province.

TEFA noted telecom services were disrupted in 12 provinces of the country, creating hurdles to communication among Independent Election Commission (IEC) offices.

mds/mud