Watchdog gives praise for Afghan vote

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The courage of the 4 million Afghans who voted in weekend elections overshadowed insecurity and problems at the polls, a watchdog group said.

Roughly 40 percent of the eligible voting population turned out during the weekend to cast ballots for candidates for the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament. Attacks on Election Day left 14 people dead, however.

The National Democratic Institute, an election watchdog in Washington, said though violence marred the process, Afghans were resolved to take part in the democratic process.

"Afghanistan's 2010 electoral process has demonstrated that millions of Afghans -- as candidates and their agents, voters, domestic election monitors and polling officials -- are committed to ensuring that the nation's government reflects the will of the people," the institute said.

NDI said it was concerned that "suspiciously high" numbers of voting at some polling stations and "statistically anomalous distribution of votes" were among the possible irregularities in the weekend vote.

Presidential elections in 2009 were tainted by allegations of fraud.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, said it was important that the Independent Election Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission in Afghanistan were allowed to carry out their duties and certify the vote.

"The independence of these institutions is crucial to the credibility of the completion of the electoral process," he said in a Tuesday statement.