All Eyes on the Poll

A volunteer army of observers has signed up and the numbers are growing daily, but the enthusiasm is mixed with some distrust over the fairness of the impending Afghan parliamentary and provincial elections.

Some 34,000 national and 491 international observers have been accredited so far, and all of them are supposed to be watching out for fraud. But there are concerns that some of observers may really be there to intimidate people planning to vote for “the wrong candidate".

Would-be observers have until two days before the September 18 poll to register with the Joint Electoral Management Body, JEMB, whose chief of operations, Richard Atwood, expects the numbers to continue rising until the eve of the elections.

“Transparency is one of the principles of our operations during the Afghan elections,” he said.

The observers represent candidates, political parties, local non-government groups and the international community. Some of the Afghans played a similar role during last October's presidential election, while the 491 internationals have experienced polls in other countries.

While the JEMB and some of the observers say their deployment will help to make cheating very difficult, political analyst Mohammad Hassan Wolesmal suggested that the presence of numerous observers at some polling stations would actually pave the way for fraud.

"There is no need for all these observers," said Wolesmal, who is also chief editor of Afghan National Magazine, Afghan Milli Jarida.

He alleged that observers in some provinces, particularly in remote areas, are in the pockets of local militia commanders and will control the election sites there, he said, adding that observers will not be able to get to the more distant areas where the paramilitaries will employ their men to coerce people.

"The observers who belong to local commanders will not be able to observe the election process honestly,” said Wolesmal.

The JEMB plans to provide transport for one observer from each of the 26,000 voting stations to enable him or her to watch the transfer of ballot boxes from there to the single counting centre in each of the country's 34 provinces.

Other observers can accompany the boxes if they want, but must use their own transport. In some areas this is likely to be a laborious process, with the terrain so rough that distribution and collection of boxes is being done by donkey and camel.

Atwood said observers would be able to scrutinise the poll from beginning to end – from the arrival and examination of empty ballot boxes to the final results being declared. They could even stay overnight if they wished, he added.

That may test observers' stamina, as the results are not expected for several weeks.

Some independent observers are being deployed by the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan, FEFA, while others have been trained by the Civil Society Foundation, CSF, and the United States’ National Democratic Institute, NDI.

“I have to be present at the polling station before the election workers and the ballot boxes arrive on election day to observe the process before it begins,” one CSF-trained observer, Emal Kazemi, told IWPR.

He said he wanted to see that the boxes were empty before voting begins. And after the elections, observers will have to check any material and ballot papers left over and ensure they are packed up under their watchful gaze.

“I am sure I’ll witness the whole process, and I will report even a minor violation,” he said.

Another observer, Parviz , working on behalf of a candidate in Mazar-e-Sharif and trained by NDI, said, “I am sure that with the presence of observers in the polling sites, no one will be able to mar the elections by fraud.”

FEFA’s head in northern Afghanistan, Mohammad Azim Azimi, is among those who believe the threat of voter intimidation by local militias has diminished.

“Observing the parliamentary election is much easier than the presidential elections because the DDR [Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration] process has already ended… and local commanders do not have as much power as they had during the presidential election,” he said.

At the last election, FEFA had observers in 100 districts. This year it will place two observers – a man and a woman – in each of 219 districts.

“Without a doubt, there are challenges for election observation, such as logistical problems and rough roads in some districts but… we will do our utmost to observe the polling sites,” said Azimi.

One politician who shares Azimi’s views is Sebghatullah Sanjar, head of the Republican Party, who is standing as a parliamentary candidate in Kabul.

Sanjar said that if observers perform their duties honestly, the elections will be transparent.

“We are not afraid of the commanders any longer. Now it is time to defend our rights,” he said.

Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.