III 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 151 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2013 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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 Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission has 

affirmed that Afghanistan will hold presidential and provincial elections in April 2014 and parliamentary elections in 2015; 

Whereas Afghanistan’s current electoral process was established in 2004 by the Constitution of Afghanistan; 

Whereas the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework conditions some international assistance to Afghanistan on the 


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•SRES 151 IS 

holding of credible, inclusive, and transparent elections in 

2014 and 2015, among other measures to improve governance; 

Whereas Afghanistan lacks a comprehensive and accurate 

voter registry, and previous voter registration drives have 

resulted in duplicate or fraudulent registrations, according to a report by the National Democratic Institute; 

Whereas security concerns and voter intimidation have impeded the ability of people in Afghanistan to cast votes 

reliably and safely in past elections; 

Whereas Afghan women in particular are prevented from 

meaningful participation in the electoral process due to 

the security environment, the scarcity of female poll 

workers, and lack of awareness of women’s political 

rights and opportunities, according to the Free and Fair 

Election Foundation of Afghanistan; 

Whereas Afghanistan’s 2009 presidential election was characterized by inadequate security for voters and candidates, 

low voter turnout, and widespread fraud, according to the 

National Democratic Institute; 

Whereas Afghan officials, including President Karzai and Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko, disputed the results of Afghanistan’s 2010 parliamentary elections and 

established a Special Election Tribunal to investigate allegations of fraud; 

Whereas, following the 2010 parliamentary elections, Democracy International’s Afghanistan Election Observation 

Mission concluded that comprehensive electoral reform is 

necessary to ensure a free, fair, and credible election 

process in 2014; 


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•SRES 151 IS 

Whereas the Honorable Hamid Karzai is the first democratically elected president of modern Afghanistan and has 

served two terms in that position; 

Whereas the Constitution of Afghanistan states, ‘‘No one can 

be elected as president for more than two terms.’’; 

Whereas President Karzai stated on January 11, 2013, 

alongside President Barack Obama, ‘‘The greatest of my 

achievements [. . .] will be a proper, well-organized, interference-free election in which the Afghan people can 

elect their next president.’’; 

Whereas, on several occasions since the late 1970s, civil war 

has broken out in Afghanistan over the legitimacy of the 

Afghan government; 

Whereas United States taxpayers have invested more than 

$89,500,000,000 in reconstruction and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since October 2001, according to 

the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR); 

Whereas a democratically elected and legitimate government 

that reflects the will of the Afghan people is in the vital 

security interests of Afghanistan, the United States, its 

partners in the NATO International Security Assistance 

Force (ISAF), and Afghanistan’s neighbors; and 

Whereas the most critical milestone for Afghanistan’s future 

stability is a peaceful and credible transition of power 

through presidential elections in 2014: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) affirms that the electoral process in Afghan3 istan should be determined and led by Afghan acVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:10 May 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR151.IS SR151

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1 tors, with support from the international community, 

2 and should not be subject to internal and external 

3 interference; 

4 (2) expresses its strong support for credible, in5 clusive, and transparent presidential and provincial 

6 elections in April 2014; 

7 (3) urges the Government of Afghanistan to 

8 conduct the elections in full accordance with the 

9 Constitution of Afghanistan, to include maintaining 

10 the quota for women’s parliamentary participation; 

11 (4) honors the sacrifice of United States, coali12 tion, and Afghan servicemembers who have been 

13 killed or injured since October 2001 in defense of 

14 the democratic rights of the Afghan people; 

15 (5) recognizes the substantial investment made 

16 by the United States taxpayers in support of sta17 bility and democracy in Afghanistan; 

18 (6) recognizes the contributions made by the 

19 government of President Hamid Karzai to the demo20 cratic progress of Afghanistan, including statements 

21 by President Karzai committing to hold presidential 

22 elections in 2014 and not seek a third term; 

23 (7) recognizes that transparent and credible 

24 elections will safeguard the legitimacy of the next 

25 Afghan government and will help prevent future vioVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:10 May 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR151.IS SR151

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•SRES 151 IS 

1 lence by groups that may be ready to contest a proc2 ess perceived as rigged or dishonest; 

3 (8) recognizes that a democratically elected and 

4 legitimate government is as important to ensuring 

5 the long-term stability of Afghanistan as the suc6 cessful training and fielding of the Afghan National 

7 Security Forces; 

8 (9) urges the Government of Afghanistan to 

9 recognize the independence and impartiality of the 

10 Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and an 

11 elections complaints mechanism with clear jurisdic12 tion over the final results, and urges all parties not 

13 to interfere with their deliberations; 

14 (10) urges the Parliament of Afghanistan to 

15 pass legislation that will establish a consultative and 

16 inclusive process for appointing elections commis17 sioners and allowing election disputes to be resolved 

18 transparently and fairly; 

19 (11) urges the IEC to adopt measures to better 

20 mitigate fraud, include marginalized groups, and im21 prove electoral transparency of the polling and 

22 counting process and communicate these measures 

23 clearly and consistently to the people of Afghanistan; 

24 (12) urges the Government of Afghanistan to 

25 support a credible and effective electoral complaints 


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1 mechanism whereby its members are perceived as 

2 impartial, it is given the ultimate authority on decid3 ing whether a ballot or candidate is disqualified, and 

4 it has the time and resources to do its work; 

5 (13) urges close and continuing communication 

6 between the IEC and the Afghan National Security 

7 Forces to identify and provide security for vulner8 able areas of the country during the election period; 

9 (14) urges the Afghan National Security Forces 

10 to make every necessary effort to ensure the safety 

11 of voters and candidates; 

12 (15) expresses its support for the full participa13 tion of Afghan civil society in the election process; 

14 and 

15 (16) urges the Secretary of State to condition 

16 financial, logistical, and political support for Af17 ghanistan’s 2014 elections based on the implementa18 tion of reforms in Afghanistan including— 

19 (A) increased efforts to encourage women’s 

20 participation in the electoral process, including 

21 provisions to ensure their full access to and se22 curity at polling stations; 

23 (B) the implementation of measures to 

24 prevent fraudulent registration and manipulaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:10 May 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR151.IS SR151

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1 tion of the voting or counting processes, includ2 ing— 

3 (i) establishment of processes to bet4 ter control ballots; 

5 (ii) vetting of and training for election 

6 officials; and 

7 (iii) full accreditation of and access 

8 for international and domestic election ob9 servers; and 

10 (C) prompt passage of legislation through 

11 the Parliament of Afghanistan that codifies the 

12 authorities and independence of the IEC and an 

13 independent and impartial election complaints 

14 mechanism. 

Æ 


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