Afghan pres. candidate releases vote fraud audio
Iran Press TV
Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:31PM GMT
The campaign team for Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has released audio recordings which allegedly show vote fraud in the election.
Abdullah's team released the recordings on Sunday, accusing the secretary of the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC), Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, of misdeeds in the transfer of unused ballots during the June 14 run-off poll.
The total 13-minute audio files, which are of poor quality, purportedly contain conversations between Amarkhail, other IEC officials and a member of rival presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani's campaign.
In one recording, Amarkhail supposedly reassures the member of Ghani's team that the IEC staff will be 'used' in favor of his election.
There has so far been no comment by Amarkhail on the allegations.
This comes as hundreds of Abdullah supporters rallied over alleged vote fraud for a second day across the country on Sunday.
In the capital Kabul, the protesters took to the streets, chanting slogans against Afghanistan's electoral commission that is tasked with handling potential fraud allegations in the vote.
According to Abdullah, evidence suggests that some ballot boxes were filled with votes a day before the run-off election.
The presidential candidate has even alleged that the voter turnout was higher than the number of eligible voters in several provinces.
Abdullah has accused Ghani and the IEC of working together to prevent him from winning the election.
Reports on the vote counting show that Ghani is ahead, despite the fact that Abdullah received nearly 45 percent of votes in the election's first round back in April.
According to IEC's official timetable, initial results of the second round are due on July 2. The winner will succeed outgoing President Hamid Karzai, who has been in power since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
MSM/MAM/AS
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