Details of a security report on polling centres for the spring Afghan elections show that 175 polling centres out of 414 to remain closed on the election day are in only three provinces in south and western Afghanistan.
In Helmand province alone, 72 polling stations out of 214 suggested by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) were turned down by Afghanistan's security agencies because of insurgent control of the districts in question, according to documents received by TOLO News on Monday.
In Farah and Ghor combined, more than 100 suggested polling centres were rejected for being too remote and being the site of insurgent activities.
Afghan voters are due to go to the polls in April 2014 to elect a new president and provincial councils. Roughly 14 months ago, the IEC referred a list of at least 7,000 polling stations to security officials and requested continuous status reports on them.
All polling stations suggested for the relatively unsafe provinces of Kandahar, Logar, Wardak, Kunduz, Nangarhar, and Faryab were accepted by the security body. Conversely, a number of polling stations in relatively safe provinces including Herat, Sar-e Pol and Kapisa, were ordered closed by the security body due to insurgent activities. A total of 414 suggested polling stations were rejected by the body.
Early this week, officials from the Ministry of Interior Affairs said that about 90 percent of polling centers are expected to be open for on April 5, election day. If accurate, the estimate would mean more centers will be active in the upcoming elections than were during the 2009 Presidential vote.