KABUL, 1 October 2005 — The European Union raised concerns yesterday over vote fraud in Afghanistan, where counting is continuing after recent legislative elections, and called on the authorities to take measures to stop it. Some provinces had seen ballot stuffing, proxy voting and intimidation of voters, the EU election observation mission said.
“While these phenomena do not appear to be nationwide, they are a cause for concern,” added the statement, issued less than two weeks after the September 18 parliamentary and provincial council elections. The body of 120 observers who monitored the war-scarred country’s polls continues to oversee a complicated counting process in 32 centers, scattered throughout the country.
It called on the UN-backed Afghan electoral body to address the problem “in a transparent and effective way in order to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.” The EU call came a day after electoral officials revealed that two election workers counting ballots were dismissed for marking blank papers in favor of certain candidates.
One, a female election employee, was caught while allegedly marking ballot papers with an eyeliner pencil for a candidate on Wednesday. A man was sacked and handed over to police for similar activity in the eastern province of Khost on Thursday.
Some 7,000 people are counting votes after the elections, Afghanistan’s first parliamentary polls in more than 30 years. Thousands of observers, including from international groups, are monitoring the process. More than half the votes have been counted.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary John Reid began a four-day visit to Afghanistan yesterday during which he is expected to discuss plans for an expansion of a NATO-led force into the restive south of the country. During his visit, Reid will hold talks with Afghan Defense Minister Rahim Wardak, President Hamid Karzai and commanders of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force peacekeepers and separate US-led force hunting Taleban and allied militants.
