The Independent Election Commission (IEC) called on security organizations on Tuesday to ensure safety and security is maintained around the election process and that they help the commission transfer election material and equipment to 5,074 polling centers across the country. 

According to the commission, election material and equipment have been delivered to the centers of all provinces and from Tuesday, they will be taken from the centers to districts. 

“There are concerns that areas might be reported secure for political reasons, and that areas that are insecure are reported as being secure,” said Maazullah Dawlati, deputy head of the IEC for administration.

Security officials who attended a joint session with IEC and NATO officials said government forces are fully prepared for the upcoming elections.

“We have our preparations. The preparations will be completed by the Ministry of Interior today (Tuesday) and will be shared with the election commission.

There isn’t any problem in terms of ensuring election safety,” said Ajmal Abidi, deputy head of the National Directorate of Security for policy.

According to the Ministry of Interior, 54,776 members of the Afghan National Security and Defense Force will be deployed to secure 5,100 polling centers five days ahead of the October 20 elections.  There will be 9,540 reserve forces in place.   

The US and NATO’s Resolute Support Mission (RS) Commander in Afghanistan Gen. Austin Scott Miller last week said RS will help the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) during the upcoming elections.

Compliant Against Candidates

Addressing the same event, an official, Humaira Haqmal, deputy chair for the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC), said the institution will soon announce its decision on at least 300 candidates against whom it has received complaints.

She said the decision to remove the candidates from the list has been delayed so as to prevent a crisis in the electoral process.

Haqmal said the names of 15 candidates will be removed from the list after they failed to meet the criteria required. 

“There are some individuals who are included in the serious warning list, their documents are with us which were not completed at that time but they are completed now,” she said. 

“Those who were have not been warned and have been recognized now will be removed from the list in collaboration with the security forces,” she added.

The IEC chief Abdulbadi Sayyad said there is good coordination between the IEC and the IECC. “Some complaints have been sent to us which we will soon decide on it jointly with the electoral complaints commission,” said Sayyad.