Over 16,000 complaints filed in Afghanistan’s presidential election

More than 16,000 complaints have been filed to Afghan election authorities over the handling of this year’s presidential polls, officials said on Thursday. Preliminary results published earlier this week put President Ashraf Ghani in place to secure a second term.

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced that Ghani had won a slim 50.64 percent majority in the September 28 poll. The final results are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, after the complaints have been reviewed.

Officials have 15 days to finalize their investigation into the complaints, said Zuhra Bayan Shinwari, head of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), adding that 16,500 complaints had been received in total.

If the numbers hold following these investigations, the result is enough for Ghani to avoid a run-off, after he easily beat his long-time rival, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who attracted 39.52 percent of the vote, AFP said.