Votes from 20 polling centres to be quarantined

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): Officials of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in northern Kunduz province on Sunday said votes from certain polling centres would be quarantined in the wake of alleged fraud in some districts.

Seventeen of 216 polling centres remained shut in Kunduz due to security problems. IEC Director Amir Hamza Ahmadzai said they had received rigging reports from Aliabad, Khanabad and Imam Sahib districts and the provincial capital.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News illegal practices that could jeopardise election legitimacy were carried out by candidate supporters. He explained they would soon quarantine votes from 20 polling centres.

The official believed announcing results needed more hard work and prevention of electoral violations.

A resident of the Aqtash area of Khan Abad district said people were forced to vote for a particular candidate at the polling centre, where he voted.

Wishing not to be named, the resident said gunmen forcibly brought farmers from their fields to polling centres to vote in favour of the candidate of their choice.

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