Hawa Alam Nuristani, chief of the Independent Election Commission, said the preliminary presidential election results will be announced on November 14.

The announcement was originally scheduled for Oct 19, but IEC officials cited technical issues--as well as extra actions needed to maintain transparency--as reasons for the delay.

According to the IEC, an attempt to hack the commission’s server and picking the digital lock of the digital center were two key factors that delayed the announcement of the process.

“After consultations with the honorable commissioners, we finalized the date for the preliminary results of the presidential elections for 23 of Aqrab (November 14). This is final from our side,” said Nuristani.

“We should have clarified the turnout level in the next 48 hours after the election, but this was delayed following reports of threats against the telecom services,” said IEC commissioner Mawlana Abdullah.

“What is the need for additional time when the process has already taken so much time and they have not clarified it?” asked Dawoud Sultanzoy, a member of the State Building campaign while reacting to the election result date.

IEC commissioner Awrangzeb on Saturday said that the proposal to delay the preliminary result for three weeks by the IEC’s secretariat has been facing opposition and that meetings are underway to settle the issue.

Based on the Election Commission’s numbers, over 1.9 million biometric votes were used in the September 28 presidential elections.