Fifty-seven prisoners convicted of multiple voting fraud released, in the capital Kabul

Fifty-seven Afghans from southern Kandahar jailed for voting fraud because they carried more than one voter registration card during the presidential elections, were released on the 27th and 28th of March, officials said. The prisoners who served a six month sentence at the Pul-e-Charkhi jail were sentenced by a special Afghan court during the landmark elections that saw President Karzai elected into power. During the October 2004 presidential elections, an independent election commission, made up of UN and Afghan officials found some voting irregularities during the. But Hamid Karzai was officially declared president after a UN panel declared that the voting irregularities did not affect the outcome. Reports suggested that problems emerged with the indelible ink designed to prevent multiple voting, leading to some voters using the opportunity to cast their vote more than ones.