No time limit in one Balkh polling station

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Voting at a female polling station continued beyond the official closing time of 5pm in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) earlier in the day extended the voting time by an hour from 4pm to 5pm in the historic presidential and provincial council elections.

After the announcement, IEC Secretary Amarkhel said the vote count began at 5pm, but those standing in lines were allowed to cast their votes until that time.

However, it was late than 6pm when voting at the Fatima Balkhi polling station was ongoing. There were no lines, but groups of people would arrive and cast votes at the station.

Media representatives tried to ascertain information about the voting beyond close time at the station, but they were not let in.

An election official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Pajhwok that officials and observers deployed at the polling station had been stuffing ballot boxes in favour of their preferred candidates.

Pajhwok made unsuccessful attempts at seeking comments from the officials concerned.

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