Thousands of votes in Herat cancelled

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) on Sunday said it had cancelled about 100,000 votes cast at 27 polling stations in western Herat province.

IECC Herat chief Abdullah Sherzai told reporters the votes were thrown out in light of investigations into 28 complaints registered in this regard.

He said the invalid votes belonged to presidential candidates and had been cast at polling stations in Herat City and Kushk, Rubat Sangi, Shindand, Farsi, Gulran and Kuhsan districts.

“Most of the votes were fraudulently cast in favour of Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Zamai Rassoul, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf,” Sherzai said.

He confirmed some complaints were against IEC workers, accusing them of working for a particular candidate.

Sherzai said a review of complaints from Chishti and Farsi districts was underway and could lead to cancelling more votes.

He said the Farsi district chief had also been accused of his involvement in election fraud and he would be tried if found guilty.

The IEC has sought the removal of the Herat Education Director for misusing his authority during the election process, but he continues to be on the job.

An IECC commissioner in Herat, Abdur Razzaq Najrabi said the decision to invalidate votes had been taken in haste. He claimed most of the complaints received at the IECC office were baseless.

Najrabi said such decisions amounted to deceiving the nation, saying there had been no clear reason to invalidate such a large number of votes.

mds/ma

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