Results to be unveiled even if rifts persist: IEC

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Independent Election Commission would announce the runoff results once the audit process was completed and problems of certain polling stations addressed, an official said on Monday.

IEC Chairman Yousaf Nuristani told a group of reporters elections were the foundation of a democratic government. The election results should be announced to end uncertainty among the masses, he argued.

He hoped both candidates would reach a political agreement. The outcome would be unveiled even if the runners failed to seal a deal, the chairman explained.

The 50-day vote audit — a process supervised by the United Nations — has come to an end, but due to differences between the two campaigns, the final result is yet to be announced.

Also on Monday, the Commission announced deciding the status of ballots from 2,300 polling stations. In the presence of observers, UN advisors and media representatives, IEC reviewed evidence collected during the audit.

A statement from the poll panel said the decisions led to validation of results from 279 standard polling stations and invalidation of results from 94 polling stations.

The meeting partially nullified results from 1,703 polling stations, of which 259 were standard audit cases and 1,444 special scrutiny cases.

The commissioners also confirmed the need for closer investigation of 224 polling stations. The decisions were taken after a review of audit findings, as recorded on checklist forms.

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