20 Percent of Materials Still Missing: IEC

KABUL: (MEP) – The Independent Election Commission (IEC) reported on Sunday that basic election materials had arrived in 20 provinces already, but the spokesman for the Commission also acknowledged that 20 percent of the essential materials, including ballots, have yet to arrive in Kabul from abroad.

The IEC has said it will have 14 million Presidential and 14 million Provincial Council ballots printed for the April elections. The ballots are said to be made in Dubai.

“Our basic materials will be transferred to the 34 provinces of Afghanistan in the next few days,” IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said. “Of our essential materials, which are voting ballots, two kinds of election dye colors, result sheets and 10 other items, 80 percent has made it to our office and the remaining 20 percent is on its way and will make it to Kabul and will be delivered to our office.”

Meanwhile, the IEC has said that election observers will be permitted to choose where they would like to monitor the process.

Election officials have maintained that preparations for the elections are moving forward successfully and monitoring organizations are also well prepared. However, the IEC’s method of identifying centers to be observed has faced criticism.

“This can’t be too practical for the Commission to decide what areas and centers observers can visit,” Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) head Muhammad Naeem Ayoubzada said.

Previously, an IEC Commissioner told TOLO news that voting centers would be designated for the observers, a statement that has now been contradicted by the IEC spokesman.

“We won’t tell any candidate representative or any other institution to observe a specific center, it’s their will what center to visit and observe,” Noor said.

Once all electoral materials are fully transferred to all the provinces, a public awareness campaign and plans for election monitoring will be among the IEC’s remaining focuses before the vote in less than three months.