Poll Workers and Female Candidates Killed in Afghan Elections

From Care2
By Natasha G.

Afghanistan held elections this Saturday, and the results were nothing short of disastrous.

Votes are still being counted, but the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (Fefa) contended there were “serious concerns about the quality of elections.”

In Kabul Al Jazeera’s James Bays reports, “We’ve people who have been able to wash the ‘indelible’ ink off their fingers; we have voter registration cards – fake ones – which were definitely used, we are told, in some areas and we have been told of some polling stations where one candidate allowed only his supporters to go inside.”

The BBC reports that in eastern Wardak province, officials allegedly stuffed ballot boxes after the polls closed, and in Helmand province, 26 people were arrested for having fake identity cards.

Even before election day it was evident the notion of free elections was a myth when a number of female candidates and their campaign workers received death threats or were murdered by the Taliban.

MP Hawa Nooristani was shot when campaigning last election, but continued to campaign this year, explaining, “The rights which have been given to women by Islam are unique, but society hasn’t recognized those rights. There have been many women in the world who have been much better and active than men like Indira Gandhi and many more.”

Voter turnout was particularly low, most likely due to violence. There were an astonishing 445 reported violent incidents, and at least 17 people including poll workers were found dead. It may come as no surprise considering the Taliban had vowed to disrupt the vote, urging citizens to boycott the elections and “stick to jihad” instead.

Foreign election observers warn that due to the amount of complaints of fraud, it may take months to determine the election results. The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) reports it received over 1300 complaints nationwide.

Related Articles

• Afghanistan election: fraud could delay result for months, observers warn (guardian.co.uk)
• Reports over legitimacy of Afghan parliamentary vote at odds (theglobeandmail.com)