After completing its complaints review process, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) announced on Tuesday it had submitted a final list of candidates to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) that reportedly included the addition of Daoud Sultanzoy to the names of eligible Presidential contenders.
The ECC's announcement on Tuesday came three days after it was originally intended to have completed the final list of candidates. Although the list remains in the hands of the IEC, which has delayed its publication another day due to unspecified logistical issues, election officials confirmed major changes were made.
The number of Presidential candidates running the April election to succeed President Hamid Karzai has now gone up from 10 to 11 with the addition of Sultanzoy, who was originally cut by the IEC last month due to his reportedly having dual-citizenship with Afghanistan and the U.S.
Sultanzoy was one of the 17 Presidential hopefuls who were left off of the preliminary list and then subsequently challenged the IEC's decision through the ECC. He was the only one who successfully overturned the initial ruling.
According to ECC officials, there were a number of changes to the list of Provincial Council candidates.
"After a series of investigations and assessments, we made 116 changes to the Provincial Council candidates' list," head of the ECC Abdul Satar Saadat said on Tuesday. "Seventy-six were included in the final list and recognized as eligible."
Those 76 candidates were originally, like Sultanzoy, disqualified by the IEC. The ECC did not go into any detail as to why the Election Commission's original decisions were overturned, but noted that it had received over 400 challenges from candidates who had been cut initially.
According to the ECC, 40 Provincial Council candidates who made the preliminary list would not see their names on the final list because they submitted fake educational documents. These individuals will be referred to law enforcement for their fraud.
Officials said that while the complaints and challenges hearing process was over, they still reserved the right to disqualify candidates from running if new evidence came to light.
"On the basis of article 64th of the Election Law, we are able to eliminate the candidates from the final list if we find that a candidate has dual citizenship or his education documents have problems or their candidacy has any sort of other problem or we receive a judgment from the courts," Saadat said.
The ECC declined to announce the names of the final list, leaving that up to the IEC, which is expected to convene a press conference on Wednesday.