Campaign’s rules violated in Balkh: official

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The voter registration process has intensified with the launch of electioneering for the provincial council elections in northern Balkh province, an official said on Thursday.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) official in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital, also accused some provincial council runners of violating rules on the campaign’s first day.

Izzat Arman told Pajhwok Afghan News some candidates had displayed their campaign posters in areas prohibited under the electoral law.

He cited prohibited sites as schools and government offices, saying even some candidates brought down posters of their rivals and replaced them with their own.

He also confirmed receiving complaints about physical clashes between supporters of rival candidates.

Arman said he had an exclusive meeting with provincial council candidates a day earlier to once again interpret the campaign’s rules to them.

He said more and more people were visiting the voter registration centre after the launch of campaigning.  He said the registration process had been slow-going previously, but now it had intensified over the past two days.

In Balkh, so far 222,000 individuals had been issued with voter cards, with women constituting 41 percent of them.

A provincial council candidate, Ghulam Rassoul, said they were trying to convince people into obtaining voter cards while on the electioneering in order to increase the turnout.

“As the electioneering gains momentum, more eligible people are expected to obtain voter cards,” believed a Mazar-i-Sharif resident, Ali Ahmad.

He said no big rallies had so far taken place in support of provincial council candidates, but their posters and billboards could be seen along highways and in squares in the provincial capital.

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