IEC authorised to announce final poll results

KABUL) to announce final poll results, recommending the creation of a polling centre in each province of the country’s 35 provinces.

The draft election law, having 17 chapters and 67 articles, was referred for debate and approval to the lower house in December 2012. Last week, the house approved two important articles of the law concerning the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) system and ballot counts at voting centres.

On Monday, the Legislative Commission presented Clause 20 of Article 4 and Clause 10 of Article 7 to the assembly for debate. Commission head Qazi Nazeer Ahmad Hanifi said Article 4 suggested the final results be announced by the IEC.

But the panel believed the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), which had the power to investigate fraud charges and related issues, should do the job, he added. After lengthy discussion, a majority of lawmakers decided the final results be prepared by ECC and unveiled by IEC.

Hanafi said the government had proposed in Article 7 there should be several polling centres in every province, but legislators decided on one centre for each province.

On April 22, the house approved articles concerning the SNTV system and ballot counts at voting centres. The panel’s discussions showed 11 articles of the draft law were controversial.

IEC Chairman Fazal Ahmad Manawi insisted since past experience showed votes were not properly counted at polling centres, so they should be brought to provincial offices.

Observers could not wait for the vote count at polling centres, a process that attracted crowds and created disorder, he told legislators.

Civil society, political parties and some members suggested a joint electorate regime. But later, 120 legislators raised their green cards in support of the SNTV regime.

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