After receiving a report last week that concluded over 90 percent of polling centers will be open on election day in April, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Monday called on security institutions to help bolster public confidence in the security of the upcoming elections.
"...we should give explicit information to the public, the elections should be conducted in trustable way," IEC Secretariat chief Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail said of the updated security report delivered to the IEC last week.
One of of the biggest fears of election officials heading into April is that insecurity around the country could keep voters from turning up to the polls or open the door to manipulation and fraud. For the elecitons to be successful, the perception of security is nearly as important to their credibility as actual security.
However, the IEC also cautioned security officials about their optimistic report on the conditions of the polling centers.
"The responsibility for election security goes to the security institutions of the country," IEC Secretariat chief Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail said. "The IEC expects the security institutions to avoid leading the people to have misplaced confidence in election security."
Election officials said security forces would be responsible for protecting the polling centers and election observers.
"The election commission has logistical and technical responsibilities, but the responsibility of security for the polling stations and election observers is the responsibility of the security institutions," Amarkhail said.
Meanwhile, FEFA has also called on security officials to detail their strategy for ensuring security in April to the public.
"The security institutions should provide explicit explanations of their security measures," ECC Secretariat chief Nadir Mohseni said.
Security officials did not comment. Although, it is likely that even if they were to publicize further details about their plans for election security there would be some things omitted simply for the sake of effectiveness.
FEFA has also called for a more robust strategy related to the monitoring of the electoral process, warning that unaddressed security issues could threaten the safety and efficacy of Afghan and foreign observers.
FEFA officials warned that abuses of the electoral process are more likely to happen if election monitors are under serious threat and unable to do their jobs.
As the country gets closer to election day, the first one that President Hamid Karzai will not be able to run in since taking power, security and legitimacy concerns – often times interwoven as in the case of FEFA's most recent remarks – have been growing in volume and frequency.
Nevertheless, with the NATO combat mission ending in 2014 and the security transition in its final stages, Afghan military and police officials continue to maintain that they will be able to ensure adequate security for the elections.
In their most recent report, the Ministry of Interior and other security organizations said that only 414 of 6,845 polling stations nationwide were under serious security threat.