KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Sunday said 80 people including security personnel have been arrested in connection with electoral crimes and the suspects could get one month to five years in jail sentences and from 100 afghanis cash fine to 100,000 afs.
Experts believe if the law is enforced on electoral offenders, it would help conduct better elections in future otherwise fraud and misconduct would continue.
Voting in the Wolesi Jirga elections was conducted on Oct 20 and 21 and in southern Kandahar province on Saturday.  The parliamentary election in Ghazni province will be held with the presidential polls next year.
The long-delayed Wolesi Jirga elections were held in 32 provinces of the country amid rigging complaints.
The Independent Election Complaints Commission (IECC) says it has so far received thousands of complaints which are being investigated.
Nusrat Rahimi, MoI’s deputy spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News so far 80 people, including observers, voters, police personnel and Independent Election Commission (IEC) officials had been detained in connection with electoral crimes.
He added 44 of the accused were held in Kabul and the rest in other provinces. He did not share further details about the detainees but said they were being prosecuted.
He said a number of other suspects will also be arrested as they had received enough evidence against them.