8/4/2019 Factsheet on the 2010 Parliamentary Election in Afghanistan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/factsheet-on-the-2010-parliamentary-election-in-afghanistan 1/4

 

1

24 September 2010

 AFGHANISTAN – Governance and Participation

Factsheet1 on the Parliamentary Election

18 September 2010

 Anne-Catherine Claude - Governance and Justice Knowledge Manager(anne-catherine.claude@cimicweb.org )  Amber Ramsey - Knowledge Manager

(amber.ramsey@cimicweb.org) (www.cimicweb.org) 

 , CLICK HERE 

Results Availability: Preliminary Results (08 October) - Final Results (30 October)

Overall Participation

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced a turnout of 47% with over 4 millionvotes cast  (including many fraudulent ballots  that may be invalidated by the ECC). However,turnout was lower than the previous parliamentary election in 2005 (6.4 million votes) and thepresidential election in 2009 (4.6 million valid votes).

Women’s Participation

FEFA : Women voters were fewer than male voters almost everywhere. In the most insecure

southern and south-eastern provinces many polling centres reported almost no women voters. According to an article in the Washington Post , 40% of votes were cast by women, with theauthor qualifying this statistic as progress in developing a democratic political culture.

Photo: Fardin Waezi/UNAMA 

1 Final numbers may differ from one source to another, but this factsheet attempts to use official figures released by

the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

8/4/2019 Factsheet on the 2010 Parliamentary Election in Afghanistan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/factsheet-on-the-2010-parliamentary-election-in-afghanistan 2/4

 

2

I.  Pre-elections 

 Voter Registration: 

12 June-12 August 2010 (registration continued for an additional week in the Marjah district of  Helmand province due to the security situation during the 2009 presidential election; registration ended 19 August) According to a press release from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) there are:

New voters: 376,081

Women registered: 152,147Kuchi nomads registered: 16,920Overall voting population: 11.4 million 

Security Issues:

-  FEFA  reported 61 incidents of election-related violence ahead of the polls, including 49 incidents targeting

candidates and campaign staff.This included:

-   Abduction of campaign workers -  Killing of candidates:

o  On 23 July, Sayedullah Sayed, a candidate and religious scholar, was killed and 20 others

were wounded when the mosque in which he was speaking was bombed in Khost province.

o  On 24 July, the Taliban abducted Najibullah Gulisanti, a candidate in Ghazni province; hewas killed two weeks later after Taliban demands for a prisoner exchange were rejected.

o  On 29 August, candidate Haji Abdul Manan Noorzai  was killed as he walked from his

home to a mosque for evening prayers in the Shindand district of  Herat province.-  Threats against election staff : two staff members of the IEC  were killed just days before the

elections in Balkh province. -  Intimidation:

o  Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid called on the Afghan population to boycott theupcoming election. In his statement, Mujahid warned that “everything and everyoneaffiliated with the election is our target.”  

o  FEFA  reported 200 acts of intimidation between the middle of July and end of August.

Specific Issues Faced by Women:

-  Women faced the majority of threats  (see 01 September CFC Weekly Afghanistan Review, Governance and Participation section).

-  Women candidates’ campaign materials were targeted. 

-  One female candidate, Fawzia Gilani, had 10 of her campaign workers abducted by gunmen - fiveof them were found dead a week later - a month before the elections.

8/4/2019 Factsheet on the 2010 Parliamentary Election in Afghanistan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/factsheet-on-the-2010-parliamentary-election-in-afghanistan 3/4

 

3

 Additional Issues Identified During the Campaigning Period:

-  Fake registration cards 

-  Between 15 July and 25 August, FEFA’s observers across Afghanistan submitted 583 reports of electoralviolations, including government officials unlawfully supporting candidates, candidates using stateresources in their campaigns, and uniformed security officers participating in campaigns. 

II.  Election Day

Number of Polling Centres: 

Final: 5,355

List issued prior to elections: 5,897

Initial list of polling centres: 6,835

Stations closed or information not received: 542

Stations closed due to insecurity: 153

Provinces where the most polling stations

opened: Kabul, Herat, Nangarhar 

Provinces where the largest number of polling

stations were closed due to insecurity: Ghazni, 

Nangarhar

Election Observers: 

Candidates Agents: 369,813

Male Candidates Agents: 281,306

Female Candidates Agents: 88,507

Domestic Observers: 3,923

Political Party Representatives: 1,192

International Observers: 1,090

Domestic Media: 333

International Media: 304

Special Guests: 63

Main issues identified on Election Day:

-  Polling materials not arriving to polling stations -  Intimidation and threats 

-   Vote-buying -  Ineligible voters -  Poor ink quality -  Fake voter cards -  Opening late -  Proxy voting -  Candidates campaigning on election day -  Ballot-stuffing -  Underage voting 

The Election Complaints Commission (ECC) said it had received 126 official complaints on election day,including delayed opening, intimidation and threats, ineligible voters, misuse of voter registration cards,

proxy voting, poor ink quality and shortages of ballot papers.

Number of Security Incidents on Election Day: Mainly rocket and mortar barrages

 Attacks (MoD): 294 (compared to 479 last year)Deaths on Election Day: 24 (11 civilian, 13 police)Wounded: 48 (45 civilians, 3 police) Attacks (NATO): 580 (294 insurgent attacks and 286 operations launched by NATO and Afghan forces)FEFA : “serious security incidents” at 389 polling centres 

8/4/2019 Factsheet on the 2010 Parliamentary Election in Afghanistan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/factsheet-on-the-2010-parliamentary-election-in-afghanistan 4/4

 

4

Number of  complaints received by ECC: 

Prior to the elections: ECC - 1,700 complaints received since April.

Complaints received in the period 18-22 September2

: 3,138 complaints  relating to irregularities onelection day.ECC bodies: 35

Main issues with complaints process:

No reliable connection with some provinces Fraudulent complaints against competing candidatesFear to register formal complaints because they cannot be made anonymously or simply because

 Afghans are unaware of the procedure to follow 

Election Quotes:

United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General, Staffan de Mistura:  “Widespreadirregularities” but no evidence of  “massive or systematic fraud.”  

Head of the IEC, Fazal Ahmad Manawi:  “we are satisfied with the holding of the elections, and in the

current situation and circumstances, the fact that we managed to hold the elections is itself a success.”  

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commended the “courage and determination” of the men

and women of Afghanistan for voting in the elections.

Presidential Spokesman, Waheed Omer: "It is early for us to make concrete judgement ... as far as the

quality of the election is concerned, and organisation, this is too early to judge."

General David Petraeus, Commander of ISAF:  “the people of Afghanistan sent a powerful message”  to

the Taliban.

Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA): “FEFA has serious concerns about the quality of 

the elections.”  

For More information on the 2010 Parliamentary Elections please visit our Elections Page. 

The Civil Military Fusion Centre (CFC) is an Information and Knowledge Management organisation focused on improving civil-

military interaction, facilitating information sharing and enhancing situational awareness through the web portal,

CimicWeb. CFC products are developed with open-source information from governmental organisations, non-governmental 

organisations, international organisations, academic institutions, media sources and military organisations. By design, CFC 

 products or links to open sourced and independently produced articles do not necessarily represent the opinions, views or 

official positions of any other organisation. 

2 Last day to receive complaints regarding events which occurred on election day.