[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 591 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 
        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
    Resolved, 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.
                                 <all>