Parwan polling sites open amid rigging reports

CHARIKAR (Pajhwok): Amid sporadic violence during the voting process, rigging attempts were reported in several parts of central Parwan province, an official has said on Saturday.

A lower voter turnout was expected than the April 5 elections, said, Abdul Qadir Wahab Sapi, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) director for Parwan.
Some individuals were accused of massive rigging in Kohi Sapi, Siahgard and Shinwari districts, he said, adding IEC officials at one polling station received threats from certain individuals.
Participation of the people: Naveed, a voter in Charikar, the provincial capital, said the polling process was going well and he did not observe any fraud. But he saw less enthusiasm among people.
Najia, a female voter who cast her ballot at the Siddiqui School polling station, supported Naveed’s point of view. She said the main factor behind the lower turnout was that “we had two elections on April 5.”
Hashmatullah, another voter from Bagram district, said his locality had large number of voters but ballot papers fell short of in his area’s polling station.
On this, regional director of the IEC, said arrangements were finalized to transfer more ballot papers to the polling stations without further delay. Reports suggested that the strength of voters were less as compared to the first round of elections.
Security problem: Din Muhammad, a resident of Shinwari district, said he did not see any fraud at any stage but a rocket fired from an unknown direction landed close to the polling station.
However, he said that security forces had started firing at the mountains, which forced residents to stay indoors.
Mohammad Masoom Farza, Bagram district police chief, said a bomb exploded at around 5:00 am today’s morning close to the polling station. The polling process at the centre started at 7:00 am straight, and it was going ahead without any pause.
The regional IEC director said there were some reports of violence but all 183 polling sites opened throughout the province.
nh/rm

 

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