The Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA) on Tuesday released its first report regarding the presidential elections.
”FEFA has noted more than 6,651 cases of violations on the Election Day," FEFA Head Nadir Naderi said.
According to the report, 396 polling centers faced a delayed opening, 368 witnessed shortage of ballot papers, 344 were closed later than scheduled, and 269 had problems with the quality of the ink. Moreover, there were campaign posters within 100 meters of 246 centers, despite the restrictions placed by the election law.
“FEFA observed that some campaign posters were installed on the walls near many polling centers,” FEFA Chief Executive Mohammad Yousof Rashid said.
The report also claims that the FEFA observers were not allowed to monitor 176 of the polling centers.
FEFA lists police intervention and the meddling of the Independent Election Commission's (IEC) staff in favor of specific candidates as the most serious violations in the election process. In addition, underage voting, shortage of ballot paper, interference of powerful figures and government officials, and familial power dynamics affecting women's votes were among the other violations listed by FEFA.
IEC and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) are to address the issues presented by FEFA.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/fefa-releases-first-election-obser...
