The US Embassy in Kabul in a tweet on Wednesday called on “everyone to respect the time required” for the Afghan election organizations to finish processing the votes, saying it is “better to be right than fast.”
Since polling closed for the Afghan presidential election on September 28, the Independent Election Commission has faced criticism for delays in the processing of biometrically-verified votes.
Biometric devices that both register a vote and confirm a voter’s identity–using finger prints and digital facial scans–were delivered to polling stations around the country prior to the election. Afterwards, the system requires that the data is downloaded, validated and tallied in Kabul. Internet issues and other logistical problems have beset the process, but the Election Commission is claiming that they are taking steps to overcome obstacles.
During a Wednesday press conference, Aurangzeb, a member of the Election Commission, stated that “two technical experts will come from the company who sold us the biometric devices, and they will help us speed up the transfer of data,” adding “the internet issue is getting solved. We are trying to make the votes clean and announce a transparent result.”
Aurangzeb also stated that despite delays the commission is aiming to meet the deadline to announce the preliminary results, which is currently scheduled for October 19.
On Tuesday, the US Embassy tweeted support for the decision of the Afghan election commissions to validate only biometrically-approved votes, in the interest of transparency.
