Afghanistan

Ten per cent of votes to be recounted

Article published on the 2009-09-15 Latest update 2009-09-15 15:06 TU

An Afghan man working in a field in Istalif, north of Kabul on 14 September
(Photo: Reuters)

The Electoral Complaints Commission said on Tuesday that ten per cent of the countries polling stations in Afghanistan's elections would be recounted and audited because of evidence of fraud. Meanwhile the US Department of Defence has said that 600 prisoners detained in Bagram air base will be given the opportunity to defend themselves.

Following the ECC’s announcement last week that there was “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” they have said they will order an audit of 10 ten per cent of the polling stations.

“2,500 plus polling stations are affected by the order and all provinces are affected,” ECC chairman Grant Kippen told the AFP news agency.

“Talking about the audit and the recount process, then the idea is to do it as quickly as possible, so hopefully weeks as opposed to months is what we’re looking at,” added Kippen.

It is not clear whether the 600 polling stations which have already been quarantined by the Independent Election Commission include the 2,500 detailed in the recount.