In Afghanistan, election authorities have cancelled 1.3 million votes in last month's parliamentary election because of fraud or other irregularities. The number of void votes amounts to almost a quarter of nearly 5.6 million ballots cast in the September 18 poll. Announcing the preliminary results, the head of the Independent Election Commission, Fazil Ahmad Manawi, said the Commission had identified 224 candidates as suspicious over allegations of possible fraud. It was Afghanistan's second parliamentary election since the 2001 US-led invasion. More than 2,500 candidates stood for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga. Sixty-eight seats have been set aside for women. Final results are not expected before the end of the month once poll investigators finish their work.