H.Res. 591 — Introduced in House

IV 113th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 591 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 21, 2014 Mr. Grayson submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Commending the Government of Afghanistan for certifying the results of the national election held on April 5, 2014, and urging the Government of Afghanistan to continue to pursue a transparent, credible, and inclusive run-off presidential election on June 14, 2014, while ensuring the safety of voters and candidates. Whereas, on May 11, 2013, in Kabul, Afghanistan, United States Deputy Secretary of State William Burns stated: a successful political transition is an essential prerequisite for sustainable security. It is vitally important that the elections next April be transparent, credible, and inclusive.; Whereas, on July 9, 2013, the United States Senate unanimously agreed to S. Res. 151: A resolution urging the Government of Afghanistan to ensure transparent and credible presidential and provincial elections in April 2014 by adhering to internationally accepted democratic standards, establishing a transparent electoral process, and ensuring security for voters and candidates.; Whereas, on April 5, 2014, the Government of Afghanistan held the first round of a presidential election; Whereas, on May 15, 2014, the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) certified the results of the national election held 40 days prior, and announced a run-off election date of June 14, 2014, for the two top presidential candidate vote recipients; Whereas voter participation increased from approximately 35 percent in the 2009 Afghan presidential election to almost 60 percent for the election held on April 5, 2014, and the percentage of newly registered female voters slightly increased; Whereas the 2009 Afghan presidential election experienced low female voter turnout due to the insufficient number of female poll workers, and the United Nations Development Programme’s Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan approved a Ministry of Interior request to fund the hiring of 13,000 female election security officers in order to bolster female voter turnout for the 2014 presidential election—but 40 out of Afghanistan’s 407 districts still did not have female election staff due to security concerns; Whereas 27 Afghans were killed on election day in 2009, and 17 members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) were killed over the course of nearly 300 insurgent attacks carried out during the election held on April 5, 2014; Whereas after the 2009 Afghan presidential election, the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) ordered the results from 210 polling stations be invalidated, and later, after investigating 579 more polling stations quarantined by the IEC, found that all but 18 of those should be excluded as well—and on May 14, 2014, the IEC, based on IECC decisions, invalidated the results from 331 polling stations during the 2014 election and removed them from the final tabulation; Whereas, to date, 809,349 votes cast for the first place presidential candidate, 165,339 votes cast for the second place presidential candidate, and 39,555 votes cast for the third place presidential candidate during the June 14, 2014, election have been invalidated for fraud; Whereas there have been widespread reports of voter and election monitor intimidation, as well as attempts to bribe members of the IEC, the IECC, and other election monitoring organizations; Whereas vote counting by the IEC was performed behind closed doors instead of in front of international monitors, and information was leaked to some candidates but not others; Whereas investigations by the IECC, and their coordination with the IEC, have not been conducted in a transparent manner; Whereas the Government of Afghanistan eliminated text messaging capabilities the evening prior to the 2014 presidential election until 5:00 p.m. on election day—greatly inhibiting monitoring efforts by international organizations—explaining that the decision was made in response to two candidates sending more than one million text messages during the silent period and to combat further advertising—an explanation denied by the Chairman of the IEC who requested that texting capabilities be restored; Whereas members of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) were killed during an attack at the Serena Hotel in Kabul on March 20, 2014, causing NDI to remove significant numbers of staff from Afghanistan and spreading fear among other monitors; Whereas a run-off date of June 14, 2014, means the snows will have melted across Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to move more freely, leading to a greater chance of disruption during the run-off presidential election; Whereas some candidates, and some campaign staff, have proclaimed that should their opponents prevail, Afghanistan will be a less secure nation in which more civilians will die—thereby creating a climate that is not conducive to democratic transition; Whereas some polling places used the entirety of their allotted 600 ballots in one to two hours leading some candidates, or their representatives, to call for more ballots—even though it is highly implausible that so many ballots could be exhausted in such a short time; and Whereas the United States contributed approximately $175 million toward conducting the 2009 Afghan presidential election, and will contribute approximately $200 million toward the 2014 Afghan presidential election: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) commends the Government of Afghanistan for holding the first round of a presidential election on April 5, 2014, and for preparing for the peaceful transition to a new government, in accordance with the rule of law; (2) encourages the Government of Afghanistan to continue to pursue the standard of transparent, credible, and inclusive for the constitutionally required run-off presidential election to be held on June 14, 2014; (3) supports the mandate of Afghan electoral bodies such as the Independent Election Commission and Elections Complaints Commission to administer, adjudicate, and manage polls, as well as oversee logistical and technical preparations in a transparent, fair, and credible manner to prevent fraud and misconduct; (4) encourages the Government of Afghanistan to implement measures that will increase voter participation—particularly among the Afghan female population, and salutes the bravery of the citizenry in facing violence, and even death, to exercise their holy right to vote and determine their own destiny; (5) encourages, on the other hand, the Government of Afghanistan to not use security as an excuse to shut down polling sites where there are minimal security threats, at the expense of some candidates and to the benefit of others; (6) encourages all elements of Afghan society, not just the recognized insurgency, to restrain themselves and their supporters from fomenting violence and other disturbances in voting areas; (7) advises, in the strongest terms, that the Ministry of Communications leave texting capabilities functional on election day; (8) commends the Afghan Government for reducing the number of casualties experienced on election day, and urges the ANSF to continue to make every necessary effort to ensure the safety of voters and candidates during the June 14, 2014, presidential run-off, including greater coordination between NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and ANSF forces when deploying troops to protect vote-counters, members of the IEC and IECC, and members of international organizations dedicated to, and engaged in, election monitoring; (9) solemnly remembers those members of the ANSF who gave their lives protecting their democracy on April 5, 2014, and honors those servicemembers from United States, coalition, and Afghan forces who have been killed or injured since October 2001 in defense of the democratic rights of the Afghan people; (10) calls on the Government of Afghanistan to continue to combat instances of voter fraud and improve the transparency of the polling and counting processes—particularly by opening the processes of vote counting and complaint resolution to both candidate and international monitors; (11) supports the United Nations mandate to use its offices to assist Afghan electoral bodies and other stakeholders with technical preparations and the promotion of a timely and inclusive democratic process so that the results of the presidential run-off election will reflect the will of the people, leading to broad acceptance; (12) recommends a pause in the drawdown of United States and ISAF security, intelligence, and diplomatic assets until June 14, 2014; (13) recognizes the substantial investments made by United States taxpayers in support of stability, democracy, and the rule of law in Afghanistan, including efforts to end public corruption; (14) reaffirms the policy position of the United States that successful political transition is an essential prerequisite for sustainable security in Afghanistan, and legitimate governance is important to ensuring its long-term stability; and (15) concurs in the United States Senate’s urging of the U.S. Secretary of State to condition financial and logistical support for future Afghanistan elections on the implementation of reforms that would increase female participation and combat fraud throughout the electoral process.