Afghan Elections Situation Report Six - 1600 Local, August

UNCLAS KABUL 002439 DEPT FOR AFGHAN ELECTIONS TASK FORCE SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM AF SUBJECT: Afghan Elections Situation Report Six - 1600 Local, August 20, 2009 ¶1. (SBU) The next sitrep is scheduled for 1800 local on August 20. -------------- Atmospherics -------------- ¶2. (SBU) UN Special Representative Kai Eide met with Ambassadors at 1300 local time to convey his first impressions of the day of voting. He said that generally, people want to vote but that turnout varies greatly - from lower in the South, medium/medium-plus in Kabul and Herat, and high in the north. UNAMA decided to ask the IEC to extend polling hours if possible. There are apparently problems with the ink, he said, and noted that Bashardost and Ghani claimed their ink "washed off" their fingers; UNAMA Political Director Galbraith termed this a "minor issue." ¶3. (U) In one example, in Farah province most of people voting in the districts seem to be genuinely interested in the process and wish to exercise their right to vote. They have expressed optimism as a result of the vote and hope that their vote will bring prosperity and change to their areas. The city voters seemed to be waiting for the heat of the day and also for news of security operations to control insurgents that are firing rockets indiscriminately into the city. Despite taking casualties, the ANSF have maintained security at all the polling stations and have not abandoned any of the stations despite some attacks. -------------- Voter Turnout -------------- ¶4. (SBU) RC East: Nuristan reports that polling is taking place in the majority of the districts in high numbers, with reports that some polling sites are seeing "more voters than ever" despite some reports of long range attacks. Two centers did not open due to destroyed ballots or security issues, despite the best efforts of local officials. Nangahar reports lines to vote, although there was one explosion near a mosque polling site, with no casualties. The southern districts report small arms fire, but voting continues. Kunar reports that morning attacks throughout the province initially decreased turnout, but that voters had returned to the polls as of ¶1230. While turnout of women at Asadabad polling sites is reported to be strong, there has been lower female turnout in the districts. Kunar says voting is occurring in all sites but two. Laghman reports that many people are voting and it is peaceful �A;across the province. RC West: Farah reports a higher than normal number of security incidents in the province. Rockets have been fired into the city without much damage and only one reported casualty. Other districts appear to be calm. The District of Pusht Rud has expected heavy fighting with the ANSF and insurgent fighting pitched battles throughout the day. RC North: Balkh reports that, according to the district field coordinator and local staff in Watalabad district, turnout was lower than expected, with only 265 males and 39 females having voted as of 12:00pm. Following a Taliban warning the evening of August 19, IEC staff in Charbolak District negotiated guarantees from village elders and opened polling centers only one hour late. -------------- Security -------------- ¶5. (U) The traditionally dangerous areas in the South and East report numerous small attacks, although there have been no major attacks thus far that have significantly affected polling. Provincial reports by region follow: Regional Command (RC) - North: No update from sitrep five. RC South: No update from sitrep five. RC East: Paktika reports a polling site in Naka was taking indirect fire, that ANSF has surrounded two suicide bombers in a madrassa in Orgun-East and that a rocket may have struck near the hospital in Orgun. Bermel and Gomal districts also reported taking rounds. Paktya reports 2 IED strikes, 2 IED finds, and small arms fire with rockets directed at the following polling stations: Roquinan, Mirzaka, Ahmadabad district, and Ahmadabad DC. There was also an explosion in Gardez that is being investigated. Khost reports an attack against a polling site in Nadar Shah Khot (no damage reported),small arms fire and RPG attacks against the Tani DC (no damage) and a polling site in Gorbuz district, and small arms fire against the Bak DC. Kapisa reports that people are voting, despite attacks on ANSF bases (four so far today). Logar reports that as of 13:00 there was an active gun battle between the Taliban and ANSF in Chark District. Villagers are staying indoors and not voting. Nangarhar reports that a possibly large Taliban force engaged the polling station in Pachiragem District with small arms and RPG fire. Kunar reports that attacks (small arms fire, rockets, and mortars) have occurred throughout Kunar Province; however, the targets are often not polling sites but official government buildings and installations. -------------- Voting & Counting Activities -------------- ¶6. (U) Kabul: A preliminary glance at several dozen reports from Embassy observers show that the overall process appears to be working fairly well, although the polls remain subdued. There are several trends that are notable and appear to be fairly common. Many observers report that polling stations tended to open 15 to 30 minutes late but without incident. More observers noted that the punches used to place a hole in voter cards broke early on; this is an apparent widespread trend and the IEC has reportedly responded by ordering polling stations to cut off a corner of the card. ¶7. (U) Some limited incidents of the following were also reported: a lack of privacy in certain polling stations, where voting booths are in plain sight of the observers, and some of the voting booths at polling stations had windows behind them. One observer reported that their group was not allowed entry to one polling center based in a mosque, and another observer noted that one polling station was turning away women who did not have a photo identification. ¶8. (U) Observers noted, on the whole, a very robust presence of domestic observation teams, including observers from Free and Fair Elections of Afghanistan (FEFA) and various candidate and polling agents. Many observers report the presence of foreign press at many of the polling centers, including media companies from France, Russia, and Germany, to name a few. ¶9. (U) TF warrior (Panjshir, Bamyan, Parwan and Kapisa) have confirmed with the Task Force that all tamper evidence bags for the voting tally sheets are on hand at each polling site in sufficient numbers. ¶10. (U) Herat: USAID and DOS PRT reps in Herat visited nine polling centers beginning in Herat City and including Koshann, Forgan and Ingil. There were no significant incidents to report and all polling sites appeared well-organized. There were no significant complaints from observers. There was appropriate ANP presence at all polling centers they visited. PRT observers reported they were very well received at every polling center. The only problems they reported were malfunctioning hole punchers at every stop, and officials were using scissors to mark ID cards. There are very few travelers on the roads in Herat. ¶11. (U) Voting and Counting Activities: Paktika in RC East reports that in Terwa and War Mamay the IEC met requests for additional balloting material by shifting material within the district and that calls for additional materials are growing, particularly in Western Paktika. -------------- Fraud -------------- ¶12. (U) As of 1500 Local the IEC announced they have addressed the following fraud issues so far: -Regarding Bashardost's claim of ink wearing off, the IEC is investigating, but said it is not a serious issue. Note: some of our observers in Kabul say the ink bottles were not shaken enough. -On complaints about punch cards not working, the IEC is telling polling centers to cut the edges of voter registration cards with scissors instead. -Regarding IEC receiving calls about a lack of ballots, the IEC said they were sending extra ballots to locations as needed. IEC head Dr. Ludin also reported that that a majority of polls were open, that no significant incidents were reported, that many incidents were being addressed and that complaints should be directed to the to ECC. Polls were set to close at 4 p.m.. It was also reported that Afghans in line would be allowed to vote and this could take as long as an hour. Luddin added that a polling center in Sping Boldak district of Kandahar and another polling center in New Baghlan district of Baghlan province were closed down due to security problems. ¶13. (U) Re: Farid Zekria's earlier complaint that the Kandahar chief of police refused to give vehicle permits to Abdullah's group of candidate agents (SITREP) the ECC said the reports are not accurate and the incident did not occur. ¶14. (U) The IEC now says the first partial presidential election results will be announced August 25 -- not/not Aug 23 as previously announced by Dr. Najafi. The IEC reiterated voters in line at 1600 will have their votes honored, but could not extend hours too late, if at all, because vote counting needs to start as soon as possible tonight. The IEC press officer told us 6500 of 6521 polls had opened. Again, IEC's main message was "polls are open, we're working w/ security forces to deal w/ things, and Afghans should get out and vote before 1600." ¶15. (U) Ghazni cites reports that there has been no voting in Khogyani because election materials never left the District Center, and the DC has been under attack since early this morning. They note unconfirmed speculation that officials in Khogyani may have wanted to stuff the ballot boxes, though they are reported to be preoccupied with fighting right now. Farah says there have been no reported irregularities in any of the polling centers; the primary disruption has been security incidents near the polling centers where ANSF have engaged alongside CF Taliban units roaming the countryside. -------------- Public Affairs -------------- ¶16. (U) PUBLIC AFFAIRS UPDATES: MFA spokeman's brief press conference at 11:30 a.m. this morning reaffirmed the international and national media ban on reporting security incidents, in effect until 5:00 p.m.. Foreign press reportedly encountered some issues - according to the Dutch Ambassador, a photographer was held for half an hour - but in general were not impeded from their work. Many consider the ban to be unenforceable. AFGHAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS Other Top Stories: -Police shoot dead 3 suicide bombers in Paktia, 2 men trying to locate explosives near polling stations in Gardez arrested by police -Gen. Zahir Azimi spokesman to the Afghan Ministry of Interior in an interview with Tolo TV said police on Thursday had shot dead three would-be suicide bombers near polling stations in southeastern Paktya provinces while according to Azimi two other men trying to locate explosives near a polling station in Gardez the capital of the province were arrested by police. -Boys under the voting age vote in eastern Laghman province -Tolo TV reporter in Alingar district of eastern Laghman province says he had seen boys under the voting age (18) at the polling stations were holding voting cards. The reporter also says an armed clash had erupted between police and militants in Ali Shing district of the province. -Rockets fired on Lashkar Gah City killing 1 child, injuring some others -Tolo TV reporter in Lashkar Gah the capital of southern Helmand province says six rockets were fired on the city thursday morning one of which hit a residential house killing a child and injuring a number of others. According to reporter rockets were also reportedly fired on Sangin and Garem Sir districts of the province late Wednesday night. District police chief shot dead Habibur Rehman Sherzai -Pahjwok News reported that militants gunned down a district police chief and wounded three policemen in northern Baghlan province on Thursday. The report said that Col. Gul Agha, Central Baghlan district crimes branch chief, confirmed Muhammad Afzal was killed in a Taliban attack on his residence in Pashayee. Some fighters were also reportedly killed in a clash touched off by the attack, Agha said without giving an exact number of militant casualties. Three policemen suffered injuries in the exchange of fire. -Pahjwok News reportered that more than 30 polling stations remained closed in southeastern Paktia province after election staff refused to turn up for duty due to security concerns. Police chief Brig. General Aziz Ahmad Wardak also reported that voting was cancelled in Zurmat and Janikhel districts and provincial capital Gardez to keep election officials from being harmed. -Pahjwok News also quoted a resident of Zurmat who said there was no one at the polling centers after the Taliban distributed letters that warned people to refrain from voting. The same report quoted a 12 year old girl at Gardez Girls High School who said election offials did not ask their ages and that she and several other similar aged girls had voter cards and were prepared to vote. -Afghans Vote Amid Violence but Turnout Uncertain The New York Times reported that Afghans were voting despite Taliban threats. It also reported an unconfirmed incident in the city of Kandahar in which insurgents staged a roadblock and hanged two voters who had ink stained fingers. -Afghan Media Highlights: Pajhwok News Agency reported that residents of Chak and Jaghato districts were attacked as Taliban insurgents closed the roads on polling day in central Maidan Wardak province, local residents said. BBC reported that Pakistan's border with Afghanistan was closed Thursday and security forces were on alert as Afghans voted in national elections under threat of Taliban attacks. Pajhwok News Agency reported that more than 30 polling stations stayed closed in Paktia province after election staff refused to turn up for duty due to security concerns. Pajhwok News Agency reported that militants fired rockets into a polling centre in Kunduz province while a bomb blast took place near the police headquarters in Takhar. Radio Azadi reported that in several districts of Nangarhar province women did not vote because of the lack of female workers at the polling centers at the districts. Radio Azadi reported that the number of female voters were higher than the male voters in Kunar province. Tolo TV reported that Governor of Balkh said that some people brought bleach to the province to remove the ink from their fingers. The governor also claimed that some people have several voters' cards. Radio Salam Watandar reported that Taliban militants fired three rockets into the city of Farah province. No reports of casualties so far. EIKENBERRY