IEC, Candidates Responsible to Afghan Voters: US

Meanwhile, election observers have also called on the election commissions to take the final decision in a free, fair and transparent manner.

Ross Wilson, chargé d'affaires at the US embassy in Kabul, on Friday said that all parties involved in the elections, including the election commissions and the candidates, have a responsibility to the Afghan voters and that they must respect the process until the final results are announced.

“Just as the Afghanistan IEC and ECC have a responsibility to Afghan voters, candidates and campaigns do as well. They must respect the process so the final election result can be determined in an orderly manner,” tweeted Wilson.

Wilson said that all parties should work within the electoral process, adhere to the code of conduct they signed, and refrain from using any extralegal actions.

“Integrity of the process is THE priority in all elections. Voters must have confidence in the outcome so whoever leads the next government can build consensus, and all Afghans can work together for peace and the national interest,” added Wilson.

Meanwhile, election observers have also called on the election commissions to take the final decision in a free, fair and transparent manner.

“There is some sort of concern related to the decisions of the electoral complaints commission. In the next phase, both commissions have a responsibility to do their jobs with justice within the framework of the law,” said Yousuf Rashid, head of the Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan.

“We want to assure you we will complete the entire job within the framework of the law and with complete neutrality and sovereignty. We will never bow to political pressure,” said Sayed Qutbuddin Roydar, a member of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission.

Campaigns react:

“They (election commissions) should move forward with their work according to the law and the procedures so that the real trust of the people is not harmed,” said Abdul Qader Hotkhel, a member of President Ashraf Ghani-led State Building campaign.

“The election process must be treated within the framework of the prevailing laws of Afghanistan and with complete transparency,” said Matifullah Ibrahimzai, a member of president candidate Rahmatullah Nabil’s team.

“The Stability and Convergence team never put pressure any of the commissions,” said Mohammad Younus Nawandesh, a member of Abdullah’s team.

Meanwhile, Giles Lever, deputy ambassador to Afghanistan at the British embassy in Kabul, has also asked the candidates and involved parties in the elections to respect the freedom of the electoral institutions and to avoid putting any political pressure on them.

The disputed votes:

On Thursday, Mohammad Qasim Elyasi, the spokesman of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission, said they will make a decision about the 300,000 disputed votes soon.

Some election campaign team consider the 300,000 votes “fraudulent,” and urged the IECC not to count them.

Previously, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) invalidated approximately 86,000 votes out of 300,000 disputed votes, and also invalidated the votes of 2,000 polling stations out of 2423 polling stations that had discrepancies or other issues with the corresponding biometric data, or which came from polling stations without working biometric devices on polling day.

Based on the law, the IECC should send its decisions to the IEC in the upcoming week, and the IEC should announce the results based on the IECC decisions.