KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Results from hundreds of polling stations were tossed out and 119 candidates disqualified from parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, an official said.
Afghan's Independent Election Commission said it uncovered significant fraud in September elections for the Wolesi Jirga.
More than 2,500 candidates competed for the 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament.
The IEC released its preliminary vote count in October but said it decided to throw out around 1.3 million ballots -- about 25 percent of the total cast -- because of irregularities, fraud and tampering.
Ahmad Zia Rafhat, a spokesman for the Afghan Electoral Complaints Commission, told CNN that the 119 candidates were disqualified on suspicion of fraud.
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, said in a statement following the IEC's initial findings in October that the electoral commission should be commended for its work to ensure the voting was transparent.
"The number of votes invalidated and identified by the IEC point to considerable fraud and electoral irregularities on Election Day," he added.
Similar allegations tainted a 2009 election that secured a second term for Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
