KABUL - The Independent Election Commission (’IEC) announced the final lists of presidential and provincial candidates on Wednesday, a day after the electoral watchdog announced completion of the complaint evaluation process.

The number of presidential runners went up in the wake of investigations into objections and addition of the 11th candidate, Daud Sultanzoy, to the final list by Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC).

The watchdog had started investigating complaints against presidential and provincial council runners soon after the release of the preliminary list of poll contestants. The process came to an end on Monday evening -- two days behind schedule.

IEC deputy chief, Abdul Rahman Hotaki, told a news conference in Kabul: “Sultanzoy had been eliminated from the initial list because of his inability to produce documentary evidence of his renunciation of foreign nationality. However, his name has been included in the final list.”

The final list of presidential contenders features Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Abdur Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, Qutbuddin Hilal, Abdul Rahim Wardak, Dr. Ashraf Ghani, Dr. Zalmay Rassoul, Sardar Mohammad Nadir Naeem, Qayyum Karzai, Hidayat Amin Arsala and Gul Agha Sherzai and Sultanzoy.

Regarding complaints against provincial wannabes, Hotaki said there had been problems with their educational documents and the prescribed number of voter cards from supporters. He confirmed 76 of the runners rejected by the IEC had been included in the final list by the IECC.

But 40 other provincial council runners were disqualified because of document forgery and other problems, including lack of the required number of supporters, the official explained. On the final list, there are 2,713 applicants, including 308 women. (Pajhwok)