Afghan election workers dismissed for fraud News
Afghan election workers dismissed for fraud

[JURIST] A spokesman for the UN-Afghan Joint Election Management Body [official website] said Sunday that "approximately 50" Afghan election workers had been dismissed under suspicion of fraud committed in last month's parliamentary elections [JURIST report]. Some 680 ballot boxes alleged to have been stuffed – about 3% of the total – have been removed from the counting process. The spokesman reiterated that the instances of fraud were isolated and did "not affect the integrity of the election". Counting is still in process from the September 18 poll; so far provisional results have been published for only 20 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces [JEMB electoral map]. Popular dissatisfaction with the vote, which is alleged to have been rife with irregularities, has prompted demonstrations in several cities including the capital, Kabul. A number of elected candidates have ties to the Taliban or are local warlords accused of war crimes by Western human rights groups. Aljazeera has more.