Officials of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Monday announced that two kinds of dye would be used in the upcoming elections, the same ones used in other countries around the world.
The IEC assured that the dyes could not be cleaned off of voters' fingers and would stay on the skin between 48 hours and one week. They said they hoped this durability would mean it would be harder for voter fraud to occur, avoiding voters casting more than one ballot.
On Monday, representatives of the candidates and civil society groups were shown the dyes, which are light purple and dark purple in coloring.
The first one was said to be simply applied to the forefinger used for voting, and was clearly visible. The second, however, was said to be more of a dark finish that would be applied in order to tamp the first. The IEC said second tamping dye would only be visible under a special type of light.
"The new dyes provided by the Commission cannot not be cleaned for 48 hours to one week, using any kind of materials," IEC Secretariat head Zia-ul Haq Amarkhil said.
The representatives of candidates, who met with the IEC on Monday, said they were satisfied with the demonstrations, but are worried different dyes could be use and enable fraud on election day, which was said to be a major problem in the 2009 Presidential elections.
"We are not sure whether or not these dyes will actually be taken to the voting centers," Abdullah Abdullah's representative Gen. Amrullah Aman said.
"The dyes are good and we are satisfied, but the commission does not know the combination of the dyes that are used," Daoud Sultanzoy's representative Salam said
The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan also expressed concerns about the dyes.
However, IEC head Mohammad Yousof Nuristsani assured that monitors would keep an eye on the dye use during the elections and report any abuses.
"The national and international supervisors are present in voting centers, if the colors are low quality and fake, they can inform us and we will investigate," he said.