The United Nations has urged both Afghan presidential candidates to fully engage in the audit of election ballots, which restarts on August 2.
Jan Kubis, the top UN official in Afghanistan, said on July 31 the audit was important to "complete the process of the elections," and that "any delays, any uncertainties have a major, negative impact on both the political and economic situation in Afghanistan."
The audit of the approximately eight million votes cast in the June 14 second round of the presidential election was halted last weekend due to technical differences.
Election officials said the two candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, had finally agreed on how the audit would separate fraudulent ballots from genuine ones.
Originally plans called for inaugurating the new on president on August 2 but that has been postponed to as yet unspecified date.
