“June 2011”.

Includes bibliographical references.

“Democracy International”—cover page.

Summary: “Despite the lack of independence from the government of Afghanistan, without a reliable voter register, and in the face of profound security challenges, Afghanistan’s electoral institutions still managed to achieve positive outcomes. Based on the strength of its leadership, the Independent Election Commission showed the citizens of Afghanistan that it could, in fact, administer an election in an independent and impartial fashion. Throughout the electoral process, the IEC resisted pressure to make decisions based on the preferred political outcomes of some rather than relying on the technical considerations that should drive its decision making. After election day, for example, election officials were actually threatened with arrest if they did not alter the results. Through its resolve, the IEC demonstrated that it is possible for an Afghan institution to resist executive branch pressure. Of course, as described in this report, Afghanistan’s 2010 elections process suffered from considerable administrative error, and the IEC and ECC did make mistakes throughout the process. Moreover, allegations of fraud, both founded and unfounded, continued to plague the process. Much work remains to strengthen the systems and processes by which Afghanistan administers elections. These systems, which the country’s electoral institutions are responsible for developing and implementing, have so far failed to prevent widespread fraud from tainting the credibility of elections. The unchecked strength of Afghanistan’s executive continues to act as a source of instability, and the widespread fraud that marked the 2009 election process has helped fuel a culture of political corruption in which candidates and their supporters judge fraud to be a reasonable electoral strategy. Fraud again plagued the parliamentary elections in 2010”—(p. 6).