Afghans shut out by polling station chaos return to vote
KABUL: Problems plagued hundreds of Afghan polling centres yesterday in the shambolic legislative election’s second day of voting, fuelling criticism of organisers and eroding hopes for credible results after a ballot marred by deadly violence.
An AFP tally of official casualty figures showed the number of civilians and security forces killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday was nearly 300 – almost twice the figure released by the interior ministry.
Around three million Afghans voted on Saturday, election officials said but across the country there were complaints that polling stations remained closed, often because staff failed to turn up.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan issued a statement saying it was encouraged by the high numbers who voted on Saturday, many of whom endured long delays due to technical and organizational problems.
“Those eligible voters who were not able to cast their vote, due to technical issues, deserve the right to vote,” it said.
The Sunday extension was made for 401 polling stations, and 500 extra officials were deployed.
Many independent election observers, seen as an important check on efforts to manipulate the result, have been reluctant to work, fearing militant attacks.
“It is not an ideal scenario,” one foreign security official said, noting the extra pressure placed on already stretched security forces which have been on high alert following Taliban warnings that they would target the election.
Taliban claimed it carried out more than 400 attacks on the “fake election” on Saturday.
Over 120 incidents involving hand grenades or improvised explosive devices were reported on Saturday and scores of people were killed or wounded across the country.
In one incident, 15 people were killed by a suicide bomber who tried to enter a polling station in Kabul.
The result of the election is not expected to be known for at least two weeks due to the difficulty in counting and collating the results. – AFP