The Independent Election Commission (IEC) held a meeting on Monday to familiarize the Presidential candidates with the procedures and regulations surrounding election campaigns, which are set to begin on February 2.
The 11 Presidential candidates, along with their deputies, were invited to the meeting as so that once the campaign season begins, none can say they did not know any better in abiding the protocols required of the IEC.
"We expect you to run your campaigns based on the required procedures and principles and in the spirit of competition," IEC head Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani said. "Transparency of finances is the part that cannot be ignored."
The Presidential candidates were told that they would be limited in the amount of money they can spend on their campaigns, and must document whatever is spent.
According to Election Law, Presidential campaigns will start on February 2 and last until April 2. Provincial Council candidates can start their campaigns on March 4 and run them until April 2.
With the start of the campaign season, printing companies in Afghanistan are sure to see a pick-up in business has they receive large contracts for posters and photos of candidates.
Reportedly, the candidates have been encouraged to rely on local Afghan printers for help with their campaigns rather than outsourcing the jobs abroad.
" We are asking candidates to print their posters inside Afghanistan, so the money does not go outside," an employee of a printing office in Kabul told TOLOnews."
Meanwhile, the IEC announced that it had fully printed and provided 1.3 million sample voting ballots to familiarize citizens with the voting
process, one which many Afghans, especially in more remote areas, have never done before.
The IEC reportedly had the ballots for this year's elections printed in Dubai.