Fears resurface about transparency of Afghan elections

Afghan employees of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) registering a resident at a voter registration center for the upcoming parliamentary and district council elections in Kabul. (AFP)

• Afghanistan's election commission says copies of voters’ national ID cards can be marked instead of the original
• This has raised concerns about the transparency of the upcoming poll

KABUL: Renewed concerns have emerged about the transparency of upcoming, long-delayed polls in Afghanistan after the government-appointed election commission said copies of voters’ national ID cards can be marked instead of the original.
The move came amid concerns from would-be voters that marking original IDs, as was the case until Friday, could make them a target of Taliban insurgents, who have removed some voters’ fingers and staged deadly attacks during previous elections.
The move came days after the Independent Election Commission (IEC) extended voters’ registration period for parliamentary and district council polls scheduled for Oct. 20, following low turnout that raised concerns that the results’ legitimacy would be questioned.
The country’s 34 provincial election centers were supposed to have finished a one-month registration process for voting by May 13. It has now been extended to June 12.
The IEC said 1.4 million out of some 12 million eligible voters have so far registered, amid security fears and militant intimidation.
Security is seen as the main challenge, with militants having conducted at least 23 deadly election-related attacks since the launch of voter registration, according to the UN.
Government officials concede that hundreds of voting areas are either out of Kabul’s control or held by militants.
While hailing its move to extend the period of voter registration, the IEC’s decision to allow the marking of ID copies instead of originals has been met with sharp criticism from lawmakers, political parties and election watchdogs in Afghanistan.
“This will certainly pave the way for major fraud, because you can easily make several copies of your ID and use them at various polling stations,” MP Gul Pacha Majidi told Arab News.
“Candidates, parliamentarians and political groups are deeply worried about this. This will create further public mistrust about the elections process.”
MP Abdul Hafeez Mansoor said IEC officials have refused several calls from Parliament to appear before it to answer questions about the elections process.
Abdullah Shinwary, a senior official with Elections Transparency Organization for Afghanistan (ETOA), said his organization has shared its concerns with the IEC about the use of ID copies.
The IEC lacks an organized mechanism for holding the elections, and has failed to realize the vulnerabilities of the process, he added.
“There are concerns among parties, election watchdogs, ordinary people and in Parliament that without a data bank, a person can vote in various polling stations by using ID copies,” he told Arab News. “The parties and people don’t trust this process.”
IEC officials declined to comment to Arab News, but a statement said on election day, voters should carry their original ID as well as a copy.
Majidi and other MPs called for another postponement of the elections due to security threats and an alleged lack of a solid mechanism on the part of the IEC.
“Many people in rural areas don’t have national IDs yet, there are no voter registration offices in dozens of districts, and there are security threats,” he said.
“So instead of holding elections full of fraud, better to delay them, plan for them and be prepared for them.”