KABUL (PAN): The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has ordered an audit and recount of votes at polling stations where it believes irregularities were committed in the August 20 presidential polls.

Without explaining how many would need to be recounted, the UN-backed election watchdog claimed on Tuesday it had found "clear and convincing evidence" of fraud in a number of polling stations.

It said returns must be recounted and audited for any polling station where more than 600 votes were cast, or where any candidate received more than 95 percent of the ballots if more than 100 valid votes were cast.

In a statement, the ECC said the overwhelming majority where it found proofs of fraud were characterised by an exceptionally high number of presidential votes cast per station in relation to the number of ballots available.

The ECC noted the overwhelming majority of polling stations where it found fraud had a number of ballots cast that were far in excess of what could be expected based on credible observer reports of low voter turnout.

"The ECC decides in accordance with its authority under Articles 49(2) and 54(e) of the Electoral Law that it is necessary and appropriate to conduct an audit and recount ballots cast at polling stations that exceed certain thresholds that have proven to be strong indicators of electoral irregularities."