IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 591 

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. 

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 


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•HRES 591 IH 

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; 


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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; 


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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 


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election, and will contribute approximately $200 million 

toward the 2014 Afghan presidential election: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the Government of Afghanistan 

3 for holding the first round of a presidential election 

4 on April 5, 2014, and for preparing for the peaceful 

5 transition to a new government, in accordance with 

6 the rule of law; 

7 (2) encourages the Government of Afghanistan 

8 to continue to pursue the standard of ‘‘transparent, 

9 credible, and inclusive’’ for the constitutionally re10 quired run-off presidential election to be held on 

11 June 14, 2014; 

12 (3) supports the mandate of Afghan electoral 

13 bodies such as the Independent Election Commission 

14 and Elections Complaints Commission to administer, 

15 adjudicate, and manage polls, as well as oversee 

16 logistical and technical preparations in a trans17 parent, fair, and credible manner to prevent fraud 

18 and misconduct; 

19 (4) encourages the Government of Afghanistan 

20 to implement measures that will increase voter par21 ticipation—particularly among the Afghan female 

22 population, and salutes the bravery of the citizenry 


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1 in facing violence, and even death, to exercise their 

2 holy right to vote and determine their own destiny; 

3 (5) encourages, on the other hand, the Govern4 ment of Afghanistan to not use security as an excuse 

5 to shut down polling sites where there are minimal 

6 security threats, at the expense of some candidates 

7 and to the benefit of others; 

8 (6) encourages all elements of Afghan society, 

9 not just the recognized insurgency, to restrain them10 selves and their supporters from fomenting violence 

11 and other disturbances in voting areas; 

12 (7) advises, in the strongest terms, that the 

13 Ministry of Communications leave texting capabili14 ties functional on election day; 

15 (8) commends the Afghan Government for re16 ducing the number of casualties experienced on elec17 tion day, and urges the ANSF to continue to make 

18 every necessary effort to ensure the safety of voters 

19 and candidates during the June 14, 2014, presi20 dential run-off, including greater coordination be21 tween NATO’s International Security Assistance 

22 Force (‘‘ISAF’’) and ANSF forces when deploying 

23 troops to protect vote-counters, members of the IEC 

24 and IECC, and members of international organizaVerDate Mar 15 2010 19:59 May 22, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR591.IH HR591

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1 tions dedicated to, and engaged in, election moni2 toring; 

3 (9) solemnly remembers those members of the 

4 ANSF who gave their lives protecting their democ5 racy on April 5, 2014, and honors those 

6 servicemembers from United States, coalition, and 

7 Afghan forces who have been killed or injured since 

8 October 2001 in defense of the democratic rights of 

9 the Afghan people; 

10 (10) calls on the Government of Afghanistan to 

11 continue to combat instances of voter fraud and im12 prove the transparency of the polling and counting 

13 processes—particularly by opening the processes of 

14 vote counting and complaint resolution to both can15 didate and international monitors; 

16 (11) supports the United Nations mandate to 

17 use its offices to assist Afghan electoral bodies and 

18 other stakeholders with technical preparations and 

19 the promotion of a timely and inclusive democratic 

20 process so that the results of the presidential run21 off election will reflect the will of the people, leading 

22 to broad acceptance; 

23 (12) recommends a pause in the drawdown of 

24 United States and ISAF security, intelligence, and 

25 diplomatic assets until June 14, 2014; 


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1 (13) recognizes the substantial investments 

2 made by United States taxpayers in support of sta3 bility, democracy, and the rule of law in Afghani4 stan, including efforts to end public corruption; 

5 (14) reaffirms the policy position of the United 

6 States that ‘‘successful political transition is an es7 sential prerequisite for sustainable security’’ in Af8 ghanistan, and legitimate governance is important to 

9 ensuring its long-term stability; and 

10 (15) concurs in the United States Senate’s urg11 ing of the U.S. Secretary of State to condition finan12 cial and logistical support for future Afghanistan 

13 elections on the implementation of reforms that 

14 would increase female participation and combat 

15 fraud throughout the electoral process. 

Æ 


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