On Monday members of the Electoral Alliance of the Western Zone in the province of Ghor said that commanders linked to Illegal Armed Groups (IAGs) are scheming to rig the upcoming elections. These elements have structured parallel local governments in the province and are gathering voting cards in hopes of using them to back a favored candidate in the upcoming presidential and provincial elections.

“The IAGs commanders collect women's voting cards by force and use them in favor of their particular candidate,” said Gul Paida Manesh, a civil society advocate.
 
The Head of the Human Rights Commission in Ghor said that these groups in fact have the support of some individuals within the government and National Assembly.
 
“We are very concerned about existence of dozens of parallel local governments in the province, because they have the support of ten-thousand armed men and are engineering the elections in their own interests by using their influence and weapons", said Hassan Hakimi, member of Electoral Alliance Of the Western Zone.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has said that local officials in Ghor lack the capability to confront these armed groups.
 
Afghans in the area are also faced with the onslaught go winter. Most of the roads and paths leading to polling places will be affected by snowfall.