Abdullah supporters allow vote audit in 7 provinces

KABUL (Pajhwok): The ‘Stability and Partnership’ electoral team’s supporters removed their protest tents after more than a month and allowed the vote recount in the remaining seven provinces, officials said on Sunday.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) says it has dispatched teams to Jawzjan, Faryab, Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Sar-i-Pul and Punjshir provinces in cooperation with the air force to start the vote recount and audit process.

Pajhwok Afghan News reporters said the Stability and Partnership electoral team’s supporters allowed the IEC officials to conduct the vote recount and audit process in the mentioned provinces.

Mohammad Noor Rahmani, the Sar-i-Pul provincial council chairman, told Pajhwok their decision to allow the vote audit followed an agreement between the IEC and the Stability and Partnership electoral team leadership.

He said: “Recollecting their protest tents mean they will not to accept fake votes, they are still demanding invalidation of the 300,000 non-biometric votes.”

Noorullah Paighman, IEC head for northern Baghlan province, told Pajhwok that the IEC delegation from Kabul had arrived in the province to start the vote recount and audit process.

Ghulam Sharif, IEC head for Panjshir province, told Pajhwok the vote recount and audit process in the province would start within few moments.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rahim, a civil society activist in Takhar province, told Pajhwok IEC officials were allowed to the conduct the vote recount after supporters of the Stability and Partnership electoral team removed their protest tents in the province.

This comes after Chief Executive Office Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the Stability and Partnership team, asked his followers in a tweet on Friday night to allow the IEC to audit or recount votes in the remaining seven provinces.

pk/ma