Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: IECC

IECC

Elections in Hibernation: Afghanistan’s stalled electoral reform

Ehsan Qaane • Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s electoral reform process has been bogged down for months. While the National Unity Government agreement called for the “immediate establishment” of an Electoral Reform Commission, it took the president five months just to sign the necessary decree. Now, three months later, the commission has still not started its work and it looks like the original […]

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Elections (40): The IECC open sessions on election day complaints

Qayoom Suroush •

Earlier this month, while the IEC was busy deciding whether to announce the highly controversial preliminary results or not, the IECC embarked on its third round of complaints adjudication. The first two rounds – first round presidential and the, now paused, provincial council hearings – had already been a rushed and largely formalistic affair. This […]

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Elections 2014 (38): Candidate positioning after the preliminary results

Martine van Bijlert •

A day after the announcement of the preliminary results, the US and the UN have sought to temper the shock and anger in the Abdullah camp, as well as the joy among Ghani’s supporters, by stressing that the results are not final. Both Abdullah and Ghani have sought public positions that could allow for a […]

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Elections 2014 (24): The IECC’s performance addressing provincial council complaints

Martine van Bijlert • Qayoom Suroush •

While most observers are focused on the upcoming second round of the presidential election, the process surrounding the provincial council vote is still ongoing. The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) finished its open sessions last week and, in response to allegations of manipulation by IEC staff, ordered a widespread recount of votes, which had already […]

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2014 Elections (21): A closer look at the IECC’s performance and the challenges it faced

Qayoom Suroush •

For the first time since elections were held in post-Taleban Afghanistan, the country’s Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) has held a series of open sessions addressing electoral complaints. The concept was, in principle, welcomed by independent observers, candidates’ agents and civil society, but the process itself was often confused and rushed and sometimes overly bureaucratic. […]

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Elections 2014 (19): Final results’ timeline trumps transparency

Martine van Bijlert •

This morning, on 15 May 2014, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the final results of the first round of the presidential elections. Both frontrunners have since then publicly accepted the results, while still claiming that in a fair process they would have done better, and are readying themselves for the second round vote that […]

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Elections 2014 (16): Final preliminary results, complaints, campaigns and negotiations

Martine van Bijlert •

The preliminary results of the 2014 presidential election have been announced, with two clear frontrunners – Dr Abdullah Abdullah, with 44.9 per cent of the vote and Dr Ashraf Ghani with 31.5 per cent – and no outright winner. These are still preliminary results, not yet taking into consideration the findings of the complaints commission (IECC), […]

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Elections 2014 (14): Why two thirds of Andar’s polling centres may have never opened

Fazal Rahman •

Andar district, which is located along Highway 1 after Ghazni city and also straddles the main road to Paktia, has long been a stronghold for the Taleban. The district is home to the Nur-ul-Madaris madrassa where a number of key Taleban leaders once studied and was one of the first places where the insurgency reappeared […]

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Elections 2014 (13): The IEC and IECC’s reluctance to be transparent

Martine van Bijlert •

An overriding theme over the past two weeks has been the reluctance of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) to publicly release detailed information as to what is going on with the vote count. Both bodies are now catching up, but only reluctantly so, and the first round of the […]

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Afghan election results sorted out behind closed doors

AAN •

Stars and Stripes, 16 April 2014 "As the glow of a successful presidential election fades, a picture is emerging of key post-election procedures taking place in secret and independent observers being kept in the dark while votes are counted and thrown out for irregularities" writes the US daily. And quotes AAN's Martine van Bijlert: Martine […]

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Elections 2014 (11): How the Hazaras voted in Bamyan

Qayoom Suroush •

Initial observations appear to show that Dr Abdullah has won the majority of the vote in Bamyan – with Ashraf Ghani so far second by a large margin. Bamyan is important – a province which is generally secure and has a highly motivated electorate. It is also the one province with an overwhelmingly ethnic Hazara […]

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Elections 2014 (10): Paktia – where rain helped the ‘king making’ voters

Pakteen Ibrahimi •

A week after the election, AAN looks at how Paktia province, with the southeastern region’s centre Gardez, fared in the elections and after. Like Kandahar, Paktia returns a mixed picture: a large turnout in the city and some district centres, but far less participation already at the city borders and in other districts. A specific […]

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