Afghanistan: Electoral Process “Mired in Uncertainty”

Scott Worden writes that “[p]rotests have become frequent occurrences in Jalalabad, Khost, Kabul and Herat. Afghan media have aired a variety of audio and video recordings purporting to catch government and IEC [Independent Election Commission] officials in the act of committing fraud [...] Welcome to the messy end-game of Afghanistan’s second Parliamentary election.” Worden goes on to chronicle a number of difficulties resulting from the election (the preliminary results of which were released a month ago), including failed candidates’ attempts to impugn the process (made less difficult due to a “lack of transparency in the process of invalidating ballots and deciding complaints”), the perception that President Hamid Karzai is attempting to interfere in some cases, and an overall lack of transparency from Afghanistan’s IEC and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). Worden does praise the IEC for its anti-corruption efforts, and offers several recommendations that would help “preserve what is left of the process so that no further damage is done to the rule of law or the credibility of the final results.”