Afghan officials have set a new date for announcing the result of last month's presidential election, after several delays. Hawa Alam Nuristani, he
Afghan officials have set a new date for announcing the result of last month’s presidential election, after several delays.
Hawa Alam Nuristani, head of the Independent Election Commission, says Sunday preliminary results will be announced on Nov. 14.
The initial deadline for sharing the results was delayed as the commission dealt with widespread accusations of misconduct in the polling, and technical problems with transferring ballot papers and data from a biometric system.
Violence linked to Afghanistan’s election on Sept. 28 left 85 civilians dead and more than 370 wounded, a United Nations report said last week.
The bulk of the casualties were caused by Taliban fighters, who attacked several polling stations in an attempt to derail the vote. The report accused the Taliban of deliberate attacks against civilians on election day.
Only a quarter of eligible voters cast their ballots in Afghanistan’s presidential election on Sept. 28 following threats of violence by the terrorist group.
The lead candidates are President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who have led together a fragile coalition government.
If no candidate obtains over 50% in the results, a second round of voting will be held.