KABUL (Pajhwok): The Independent Election Complaints Commission (IECC) on Wednesday declared null and void about 230,000 votes cast at 525 polling sites in the April 5 presidential polls.
After a public hearing on the issue, IECC Chairman Abdul Sattar Sadat wrote on his Facebook page the commission had decided to scrap the ballots. He called the action a key step in the fight against fraud.
Representatives of presidential runners, human rights bodies, civil society organisations, media and election observers attended the meeting.
Representatives of candidates floated their views and produced documents on why the ballots had been discarded by the Independent Election Commission (IEC).
At the outset of the public hearing, Sadat said the meeting focused on access to 230,000 votes. “Candidates should present their documents on invalid votes at the sites to be evaluated openly.”
He added 121 complaints had been lodged against preliminary results by four presidential candidates.  Of them, 115 complaints lodged by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, four by Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, one each by Daud Sultanzoy and Gul Agha Sherzai.
Nine of the complaints that were recorded against the Independent Election Commission (IEC) would be assessed in the presence of representatives of candidates, he said.
Representatives of candidates gave their views on invalidation of the votes at the said polling sites, with IEC officials defending the action.
At the end, Sadat said they would decide on the fate of the votes by the end of the day and would share its decision with the IEC.
At the same time, IECC spokesman Nadir Mohsin said: “The meeting was held in a peaceful environment and we were able to lodge complaints and have the opinion of representatives of candidates.”
In light of the opinion of both sides, IECC would take its decision and share the issue with IEC by the end of the day, he added.
Based on preliminary results announced a week ago, Abdullah stood first with 44.9 percent votes, followed by Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai with 31.5 percent.
mm/mud