The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has asked security institutions to submit new assessments on the security statuses of polling centers within the next two days, saying that much of the remaining election preparations require a clearer picture of the different levels of threat being faced around the country.
"We hope that the security institutions will share their security assessments on polling centers by January 5, now lets see if they do so or not," IEC Secretariat Chief Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail said on Friday.
For the better half of 2013, and now, in the new year of 2014, the upcoming Presidential and Provincial Council elections have been dominating subject in both public and official discourse. The elections are seen as pivotal for Afghanistan, coming the same year as the NATO coalition withdraw and marking potentially the first democratic transition of Presidential power in Afghan history.
However, security threats and suspicions of fraud fueled by past experience have weighed down the pre-election process. The credibility of the elections is considered essential to their influence on the direction Afghanistan takes in the coming years.
If April sees a low voter turnout, or well-documented and pervasive electoral improprieties, some have expressed fears of increased political violence and fragmentation around the country.
The security of individual polling centers, which is expected to be the focus of the security assessments the IEC has requested, is perhaps the most critical issue when it comes to how the elections play out. Many Afghans have indicated they would stay home from the polls if threats are serious enough and insecurity around active centers could prevent election officials and monitors from being able to provide adequate oversight of the voting process.
"Once we have received the list, the IEC will share it with the candidates, civil society institutions and media so that they undertake their oversight activities," Amarkhail said.
The Election Commission said that its final preparations for the elections, including disseminating the paper ballots to be used by voters, will largely be determined by what is submitted in the updated security assessments.
"We will dispatch election materials according to the list, we will prepare ballot papers according to the list and we will manage our estimates according to the same list," Amarkhail said.
Meanwhile, the ECC echoed the IEC's request, emphasizing the need for promptness on the part of the security officials.
"An election is one of the processes in which all activities must be conducted according to a specific timetable, and if one of the activities isn't executed according to schedule, naturally it would cause challenges for the election process," ECC representative Nadir Mohseni said. "So all possible sources should be used to pursue the activities as per schedule and people should be informed about the security situation so we can move forward confidently."
The IEC referred a list of at least 7,000 polling stations to security officials roughly 14 months ago. Based on earlier assessments, security officials reported back that overall 259 of the centers were facing serious security threats.