KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2019) Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) will recount presidential election votes cast at 8,400 polling sites across the country, Habibur Rahman Nang, the head of the IEC Secretariat, said.
The recount was triggered by claims of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah that about 300,000 votes cast in the September 28 election were invalid, according to Afghan news outlets. Dermalog, the German biometrics company whose devises were used for the Afghan election, subsequently reported to the IEC that out of those disputed votes, 137,000 were recognized valid.
"The directorate has been fully prepared for a re-enactment or recount of the 8,400 sites which will be finished within three days and the results will be announced on time," the official told reporters.
The statement prompted the Electoral Complaints Commission to call on the IEC to accelerate its procedures and avoid further delays in announcing the vote results.
The results were initially planned to be announced on October 19. However, the announcement has been postponed due to technical difficulties, particularly, damage to the system that accumulated votes.
