The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has announced a new timeline for voter registration ahead of Wolesi Jirga and district council elections in southern Ghazni province
In the previous parliamentary elections 11 representatives of the same tribe from Ghazni province found their way to the Wolesi Jirga — lower house — while some ethnic groups did not have a single representative.
This time around, a number of residents closed the IEC office in the province as no candidate could file nomination papers within the stipulated time.
Earlier, the commission had announced conducting elections in the province on the basis of constituencies — a decision opposed by some residents.
Subsequently, the poll panel set another timeline for Ghazni candidates, who were asked to submit nomination papers from July 14 until September 8.
A copy of the schedule, received by Pajhwok Afghan News, reads the hiring and training of temporary staff will starts from July 14 and end on July 20.
The recruitment and training process for voter registration staff will begin on July 23 and run until July 27. Transportation of elections materials to polling stations will start on July 16 and conclude on July 27.
Filing of complains and their scrutiny, scheduled to begin on July 14, will continue until the 31st of August. The list of voters will be released in August.
The registration process for Wolesi Jirga and district council candidates will start on the 1st of Aug and run until the 14th the same month.
Collecting information about poll runners will start from the 1st of August and end on 17th. The preliminary list of candidates will be released on August 18. Complaints against the initial lists would be filed from August 18 to August 21.
Under the election law, evaluation of complaints against the initial list of candidates must take place within a month.
However, the commission says it considers reducing the period to15 days for Ghazni. The IEC will have to reach an agreement on the issue with the complaints panel.
Withdrawal of nomination papers will start on August 18 and end on September 1. The final list of candidates will be announced on September 8.
Ghazni: IEC sets new timeline for election process
