Based on the election schedule, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) should have announced the final list of the polling stations in terms of security by today, 23rd of June, but it failed to do so.
Based on the schedule, the election commission should have announced the final list on Saturday and highlighted stations under high, medium and low threats.
IEC officials said Saturday that due to the extension of the voter registration process, they have been unable to announce the list based on the schedule.
“Based on the schedule, the polling stations list should have been finalized today. But as the third phase of the voter registration process was extended, the polling stations list will be finalized by July 6,” IEC commissioner Sayed Hafizullah Hashemi said.
In the meantime, security and defense departments said they will do their best to maintain the security of the polling stations.
“We have taken all possible steps all over the country to maintain election security,” defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.
A number of members of the Meshrano Jirga (the Upper House of Parliament) meanwhile said security should be maintained.
“If they want to hold elections all over the country, they should maintain security all over the country,” senator Jumaddin Giyanwal said.
“It is a concern for the people, because those polling stations that have been specified are under high security threats,” senator Nader Baluch said.
Meanwhile, the election commission’s provincial office in Ghazni province has remained closed for about two months and all election related processes have stopped in the province. The election commission said they will address the problem by the end of this week.
“The Ghazni issue is a serious issue for the commission and is one of the important tasks of the commission to find a solution for it. It will be included in the commission’s agenda this week and a decision will be taken,” IEC commissioner Sayed Hafizullah Hashemi said.
The election commission also said they will finalize the list of parliament and district council elections candidates by the end of this week. According to the commission, so far names of two thirds of the candidates have been entered on the list.