AFGHANISTAN: Half of votes counted

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KABUL, 28 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - With almost 50 percent of all votes counted across Afghanistan following the country's first general elections in three decades, electoral officials have cited several places where the process needs to speed up.

"We are half-way into the counting all over the country. However, at some places with more complex ballots and high voter turnout, like Kabul and Herat provinces, the counting process is slow," Peter Erben, chief electoral officer at the UN Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), said in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday. "However, we are trying to speed up the process through the reshuffling of staff from one centre to other."

Of the country's 12.5 million registered voters, some 6.8 million Afghans took part in the polls to elect a national legislature and 34 provincial councils for a five-year term.

Almost 5,800 candidates contested the poll, including over 2,700 for the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga (lower house of parliament) and more than 3,000 for 420 seats in the provincial councils.

Vote tallying from all 34 provinces is continuing at 32 provincial counting centres across the Central Asian state, with one centre for every province, while ballots from Kunar and Nuristan provinces are being counted in eastern Nangarhar province.

As results begin to come in, officials have released preliminary results for 18 of the country's 34 provinces. "Once the counting in a province is completed, it takes 24 to 48 hours to release the official provisional results," Erben said.

On Tuesday, Ashraf Ramazan, running in fifth place for one of 11 national assembly seats in the northern Afghan province of Balkh, was killed by unknown gunmen in the provincial capital, Mazar-e-Sharif. Ramazan was the first candidate killed since the 18 September polls.

"This brings the total to eight candidates killed so far through the electoral process – seven in pre-election violence," the JEMB official said, condemning the killing.

Meanwhile, the JEMB has suspended at least two of its 7,000 counting staff for alleged misconduct.

Following the announcement of provisional results for the Wolesi Jirga and provincial councils, a five-day period will be provided for the Electoral Complaints Commission to process complaints about the counting and voting process. Final certified results for the polls are expected to be announced by the JEMB some time around 22 October.

[ENDS]