The Independent Elections Commission (IEC) announced on Saturday that one of the nominees registered for the spring Presidential election was eliminated from the list of 27 due to not meeting the criteria required during the vetting process.
IEC officials declined to disclose the name of the candidate who had been rejected during the vetting process, and did not elaborate on what criteria was unmet.
The IEC and Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) have been overseeing the vetting process for the upcoming elections since the registration period ended last Sunday. Although there are a number of criteria that must be met for any candidate to be eligible, those for Presidential candidates are significantly higher than those for the Provincial Council elections.
Noor Mohammad Noor, the Spokesman of the IEC, said there had been problems with other tickets' documents as well, but that it was too soon to judge anyone else ineligible.
"There are instances where we have found problems, but as you know it is still too early and these issues need to be checked closely," said Noor. "It is still too early to talk about the problems in each document."
According to Noor, the next stage of the vetting process will be conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will verify the citizenship of each Presidential ticket, which makes a total of 81 individuals including the two Vice President slots on each.
Meanwhile, reportedly 10 complaints have been submitted against registered candidates. If complaints are proven valid by the ECC, then the candidate in question will be disqualified from running in the election. The details and authorship of complaints has been withheld by the ECC, a decision which has faced criticism by those who wish to known what concerns are being brought to the table and by who.
However, others have maintained that the confidentiality of complainants its important and a legal requirement.
"There is no need for the commission to release the identity of the complainants. If complaints are legitimate then actions should be taken in accordance with the law, and releasing the identity of the complainants is against the law and is not right," said Muhammad Fahim Naeem, the Spokesman of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA).
The IEC is expected to announce the preliminary list of candidates on October 19, with the final list being made public on November 16. With many concerned about an overcrowded list of candidates for the Presidential election, it is likely the news of the initial 27 being notched down to 26 will be well received.