OVERVIEW

USAID supported the national voter registration and 2009 Afghan presidential and provincial council elections process through the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (ELECT I) project. The ELECT II project builds on the achievements of ELECT I by strengthening the ability of the Afghan Government to conduct credible and transparent elections. During the current inter-election period, ELECT II will build the institutional strength and capacity of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC). With support from ELECT II, the IEC will be able to plan and conduct credible future elections that will be accepted by the broad population in Afghanistan, as well as the international community.

ACTIVITIES

• Support the IEC’s development of electoral facilities, systems, and infrastructure and maintain and improve professional and electoral skills of IEC staff
• Increase the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC’s) institutional capacity to carry out its mandate as an independent constitutional body
• Create an effective legal and institutional environment to enable the IEC to execute its responsibilities
• Strengthen the IEC’s capacity to design and implement a sustainable national voter registry system
• Build a broader electoral framework through capacity building, support civic and voter education, media development, and political parties and conduct domestic election observation by Afghan Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Assisted the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to develop a concept for delimitation of precincts for single-member constituencies with the aim of addressing issues raised by various actors in the electoral processes.
• Supported the IEC draft a paper that elaborates on a concept of operation for creating a polling center-based voter list through revalidation of existing voter cards
• Assisted the IEC to draft a paper on different possible voter registration (VR) scenarios; the paper reflected issues for consideration in relation to the impact of VR on credibility, sustainability and timeline of a new electoral process
• Supported the recent revision of the Electoral Law, submitted to the Ministry of Justice on June 11, 2012, by conducting a series of international and national stakeholder consultations
• Helped the IEC to develop new communication and planning procedures to strengthen internal processes
• Conducted planning activities for construction of IEC provincial offices and warehouses across the country
• Initiated security upgrades for 10 IEC provincial offices
• Worked with the IEC to complete a review and assessment of feasible options for Voter Registration improvement and management
• Held eight national and regional stakeholder consultation meetings on electoral reform and strategic planning
• Assisted the IEC with development of its first Strategic Plan, which covers 2011- 2016.
• Assisted the IEC Training Department with development of a comprehensive training plan for 2012
• Strengthened the IEC’s operational management function and project support services
• Enhanced the electoral dispute resolution mechanism
• Enhanced the media regulatory mechanism for the electoral process
• Enhanced sustainability of the IEC via through institutional and staff capacity development.
• Provided technical assistance and comparative analysis to the Special Elections Reform Commission in formulating the electoral reforms recommendations decreed by the President of Afghanistan