The process of sorting electoral complaints is underway in 13 provinces--including Kabul and Nangarhar--and it will soon start in the remaining provinces of the country, officials from the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) said on Saturday.

The IECC’s secretary Qasim Ilyasi said that the assessment of over 16,500 complaints in two week’s time will be difficult, and that the commission will most likely extend the two weeks deadline to complete the process.

The IECC began the process of sorting the complaints on Thursday.

The process is currently underway in Kabul, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Bamiyan, Faryab, Takhar, Kapisa, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Laghman, Paktia and Parwan.

“In provinces where the number of complaints are less, the process will be finished in five days--for instance like Bamiyan province where only 20 complaints were filled--but in provinces such as Kabul, where 2300 complaints were filed, I think, a fifteen day deadline will not be enough to complete the process,” said IECC Secretary Qasim Ilyasi.

There is speculation that the process will have a significant impact on the final result of the elections.

“The commission should manage its work properly and provide the information on time so that trust is built between the institution and the electoral campaigns,” said Baryalai Haqjo, election expert.

“The electoral complaints commission should not be intimidated , it shouldn’t be taken hostage to avoid another brawl in the process,” said Sayed Ahmad Selab, a member of parliament.

The complaints commission said that the electoral campaigns have registered 16,500 complaints regarding the presidential election, which was held on September 28.

From those complaints, about 8,000 were filed by Abdullah Abdullah’s team and more than 3,000 were filed by Ghani’s team.

4,400 complaints were filed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's team and approximately 15 by Rahmatullah Nabil's team.