KABUL - Just over a hundred ballot boxes, containing presidential votes, remain to be examined in the audit process currently being conducted by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

Officials are expected to finish auditing all the 358 suspicious boxes by Thursday evening, before handing over their findings to the ECC, who will then analyse the results and determine the extent of fraud committed in the 20 August presidential elections.

"The audit process is making good progress. If all goes well, 84 of the additional boxes will arrive by the end of today and they will be reviewed by the IEC and ECC," said IEC spokesperson Noor Mohammad Noor.

Many of the boxes were flown into Kabul this morning from across the country, including the Central Region, Logar and Parwan. These will also be inspected by eight teams comprising officials from the IEC, ECC and UNDP-ELECT.

Also watching over this process from a short distance, albeit closely, are representatives of candidates, agents, and international and national observers.

Representing candidate Dr Abdullah is a team of 10 persons who have been monitoring this process.

According to Ahmad Zia Kechkenni, who is the head of Dr Abdullah's delegation, the campaign is "satisfied with the transparency of the level of random sampling". "Everything is happening in front of our eyes. We have some minor concerns about access of information...and we have told the IEC about it," he added.

President Karzai, too, has 10 agents that are watching proceedings. "We are happy that the process has begun. It was a bit slow on the first day, but things are speeding up," said Arsala Jamal, who is overseeing the audit process on the President's behalf. "However, we also have some concerns about the process, such as clerical errors that are taking place, along with others, which we hope the IEC and ECC will address," he said.

UNAMA also spoke to international monitors who have been present at the audit since it began on Monday. According to Stefan Coman of the National Democratic Institute, the audit has been "satisfactory" so far, but, "as expected, some issues have come up, which are being dealt with."

"At this point, we're waiting for the conclusion of the process. We are here to support the process so that it concludes in a manner acceptable to all, especially for the Afghan people, so they that they can look to the future," Mr Coman added.

By Aditya Mehta, UNAMA