Head of the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF) Aziz Rafiye said on Saturday that details regarding the distribution of election materials and installation of equipment in polling centers around the country have not yet been provided by election officials. He warned that if security measures are not properly reported, the chances of election materials being stolen and equipment being tampered with would be high.
The IEC began distributing election materials, such as ballots, to polling sites around the country weeks ago. With only six days remaining before the historic vote that will mark Afghanistan's first democratic transition of presidential power, concerns regarding security and fraud remain the focus of much attention.
“Unfortunately, the details of election equipment have not been provided to the civil society office yet,” Rafiye said. “If the security details of the polling centers are not provided then concerns about the equipment being stolen will increase.”
Meanwhile, Sareer Barmak, a member of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), maintained that the distribution process so far has faced few problems.
“Based on the IEC's reports, election materials have been transferred to polling sites throughout the provinces and will be transferred to secure centers up to one day before the elections,” Barmak said. “The public should not be concerned about this.”
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/civil-society-raises-concerns-abou...
