KABUL - She said that she had a very productive visit to Afghanistan emphasizing the US government commitment to partner with Afghans for working towards peace, sustainability and a transparent election process.  She said that in her meetings with president Ghani and CEO Dr. Abdullah, commissioners of IEC ECC and Independent election observers she has underlined that Afghans who risked their lives to cast their ballots and to protect the voters expect and deserve the process to be transparent.
She said she also welcomed the IEC’s reaffirmation of its policy to only count biometric votes. She said that she has noted they are contentious to be concerned about the potential fraud and she has urged the IEC and ECC to increase trust by clearly communicating information on questions concerns in a timely manner; this included information on the exact number of the polling stations that were open or closed on election day as well as the reasons about the closures    and the status of the missing and nonfunctioning BBV machines or those that were not use. She said that they welcomed the IEC’s intentions to conduct all necessary anti-fraud measures before it announces the preliminary results. She said, “An accurate result is more important than a rushed one.”
“In my meetings with president Ghabni and Dr. Abdullah, both leaders strongly affirmed the Independence of IEC and ECC including their support for the IEC’s decision on matters including BBV voting and the timing regarding the announcement of the preliminary results. “The International community continues to expect all candidates to honor their code of conduct within the electoral process and do not make claims of election results in advance of the IEC.” Wells said. 
Referring to the widespread corruption in the country, Wells said, “To both the president and the CEO I under scored that Afghanistan needs to do more to counter corruption and strengthen governance.”  She said that the United States was committed to partnership with Afghanistan but the US government and the Afghan people expect that the government will use public and donors funds to provide public services, justice and economic opportunities. She said, “We are approaching a donor conference in 2020, and as we prepare for that conference it’s important that the donors see the Afghan government taking practical and real steps to address corruption and increase accountability now.” (Daily Outlook Afghanistan).