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, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. KIRK, Mr. DONNELLY, Mr. COONS, and Mr. CORNYN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

JUNE 25, 2013 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 

JULY 9, 2013 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

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 proVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:38 Jul 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR151.ATS SR151

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SRES 151 ATS 

vincial 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 

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 disputed the results of Afghanistan’s 2010 parliamentary elections and established a 

Special Election Tribunal to investigate allegations of 

fraud; 


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SRES 151 ATS 

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; 

Whereas the current president of Afghanistan is serving a 

second elective term and the Constitution of Afghanistan 

states, ‘‘No one can be elected as president for more than 

two terms.’’; 

Whereas the current president of Afghanistan has committed 

to not seeking another term in office; 

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 one of the most critical milestones 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— 


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SRES 151 ATS 

1 (1) affirms that the electoral process in Afghan2 istan should be determined and led by Afghan ac3 tors, with support from the international community, 

4 and should not be subject to internal or external in5 terference; 

6 (2) expresses its strong support for credible, in7 clusive, and transparent presidential and provincial 

8 elections in April 2014; 

9 (3) urges the Government of Afghanistan to 

10 conduct the elections in full accordance with the 

11 Constitution of Afghanistan, to include maintaining 

12 the constitutionally-mandated allocation of seats for 

13 women’s parliamentary participation; 

14 (4) honors the sacrifice of United States, coali15 tion, and Afghan service members who have been 

16 killed or injured since October 2001 in defense of 

17 the democratic rights of the Afghan people; 

18 (5) recognizes the substantial investment made 

19 by the United States taxpayers in support of sta20 bility, democracy, and the rule of law in Afghani21 stan, including efforts to end public corruption; 

22 (6) recognizes the commitment of the Govern23 ment of Afghanistan to hold presidential elections in 

24 2014 and the current president’s commitment not to 

25 seek a third term; 


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SRES 151 ATS 

1 (7) recognizes that transparent and credible 

2 elections will help safeguard the legitimacy of the 

3 next Afghan government and will help prevent fu4 ture violence by groups that may be ready to contest 

5 a process perceived as rigged or dishonest; 

6 (8) recognizes that a democratically-elected and 

7 legitimate government is important to ensuring the 

8 long term stability of Afghanistan, as is the success9 ful training and fielding of the Afghan National Se10 curity Forces; 

11 (9) urges the Government of Afghanistan to re12 spect and support the independence and impartiality 

13 of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and 

14 the need for an independent and impartial elections 

15 complaints mechanism with clear jurisdiction over 

16 the final results, and urges all parties not to inter17 fere with their deliberations; 

18 (10) urges the Parliament of Afghanistan to 

19 pass legislation that will establish a consultative and 

20 inclusive process for appointing elections commis21 sioners and allowing election disputes to be resolved 

22 transparently and fairly; 

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

24 mitigate fraud, include marginalized groups, and im25 prove electoral transparency of the polling and 


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SRES 151 ATS 

1 counting process and communicate these measures 

2 clearly and consistently to the people of Afghanistan; 

3 (12) urges the Government of Afghanistan to 

4 support a credible and effective electoral complaints 

5 mechanism whereby its members are perceived as 

6 impartial, it is given the ultimate authority on decid7 ing whether a ballot or candidate is disqualified, and 

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

9 (13) urges close and continuing communication 

10 between the IEC and the Afghan National Security 

11 Forces to identify and provide security for vulner12 able areas of the country during the election period; 

13 (14) urges the Afghan National Security Forces 

14 to make every necessary effort to ensure the safety 

15 of voters and candidates; 

16 (15) expresses its support for the full participa17 tion of Afghan civil society in the election process; 

18 (16) urges the President of the United States 

19 to ensure that all United States Government efforts 

20 in Afghanistan are well-coordinated and are fully 

21 consistent with the American taxpayers longstanding 

22 commitment to stability, democracy, and the rule of 

23 law in Afghanistan, including efforts to end public 

24 corruption; and 


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SRES 151 ATS 

1 (17) urges the Secretary of State to condition 

2 financial, logistical, and political support for Af3 ghanistan’s 2014 elections based on the implementa4 tion of reforms in Afghanistan including— 

5 (A) increased efforts to encourage women’s 

6 participation in the electoral process, including 

7 provisions to ensure their full access to and se8 curity at polling stations; 

9 (B) the implementation of measures to 

10 prevent fraudulent registration and manipula11 tion of the voting or counting processes, includ12 ing— 

13 (i) establishment of processes to bet14 ter control ballots; 

15 (ii) vetting of and training for election 

16 officials; and 

17 (iii) full accreditation of and access 

18 for international and domestic election ob19 servers; and 

20 (C) prompt passage of legislation through 

21 the Parliament of Afghanistan that codifies the 

22 authorities and independence of the IEC and an 

23 independent and impartial election complaints 

24 mechanism. 

Æ 


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