VZCZCXRO0844
PP RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1701/01 1891055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071055Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4634
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001701 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICCENT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREF AF
SUBJECT: "HYBRID" VOTER REGISTRATION BEGINS OCTOBER 6 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Afghanistan's Independent Electoral 
Commission (IEC) will pursue a &hybrid8 voter registration. 
 Voters who have registration cards from 2004/5 may use these 
cards at the polls.  New voters and voters who lost their 
card, must register for a new, enhanced voter card.  The 
IEC,s belated decision frees the IROA, the UN elections 
team, and donors to move ahead smartly to address technical 
and security issues.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The IEC briefed its much-delayed and much-debated 
decision on voter registration to key partner country 
ambassadors on July 5, and to the international community's 
elections stakeholders group on July 6, with positive 
reactions.   Registration's goal, according to the IEC,s 
briefs, is to capture all eligible voters who currently 
reside in Afghanistan. (Note: This would seem to exclude from 
the polls the estimated one million voting-age Afghans among 
the two million refugees resident in Pakistan and an unknown 
number of potential voters among the one million refugees and 
migrants in Iran, as well as politically-engaged diaspora 
Afghans living in the U.S. and Europe.) Previously-issued 
cards will remain valid, and voters who did not register 
previously, who have lost their voter card, or who will reach 
18 before the cutoff for the 2009 elections, will be able to 
register nationwide.  Mobile registration teams will serve 
Kuchi nomad voters. Newly-registered voters will be assigned 
to a polling place, laying solid ground for the 2010 
parliamentary electoral rolls. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The voter registration strategy has several 
provisions against possible fraud. 
The new voter cards will have two thumbprints and a photo. 
These biometrics will be part of the registry database and 
will be used to weed out attempts to register, or to vote, 
more than once.  The IEC's Deputy Chief Zekria Barakzai 
displayed an example of the finalized new voter registration 
form to the elections stakeholders group, with three key 
security features: a bar-coded serial number, rainbow-colored 
printing, andintentional printing errors. The IEC noted that 
voters who have a card and seek to register for a new card 
will be required to submit their previous card for 
destruction.  Comparison of voter names between old and new 
registries and of duplicate names will be possible, according 
to Barakzai, although the IEC and the UN,s technical 
advisors agree it is too soon to say whether these additional 
steps will prove a useful enhancement to the indelible ink in 
forestalling efforts to vote multiple times. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The hybrid strategy eases slightly the burden on 
the IEC,s still-nascent administrative capacity.  With an 
estimate of a maximum of 8 million potential registrants out 
of the approximately 16 million eligible voters, the hybrid 
process will use fewer registration sites and fewer field 
staff than earlier plans.  Registration will begin October 6 
and will follow through four phases that address the travel 
limitations of the winter weather.  The central highlands, 
excepting Kabul, will register first, before the snows, and 
the south ) Nimroz, Helmand, Uruzgan, and Kandahar -- will 
complete the cycle when registration concludes there in 
February 2009. The UN elections team expects its procurement 
specialists in Kabul by July 10, to help it accelerate its 
support to the IEC.  Public outreach to citizens on the voter 
registration process is an urgent priority, IEC Chief Dr. 
Najafi says. UNDP/ELECT chief Margee Cook appealed to the 
elections stakeholders group for rapid delivery of donor 
funds. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  With a final concept of operations in place, the 
IEC is ready to re-engage the Ministry of Interior and the 
Ministry of Defense on security for voter registration.  IEC 
President Dr. Lodin (protect) said July 6 that security is 
now his chief concern.  UNDP/ELECT notes that the principal 
constraint on security operations for the 2004 and 2005 
electoral process was helicopter lift capacity for IROA 
forces.   The hybrid strategy's phased approach remains 
essentially the same as some earlier proposals, which should 
facilitate security planning for October -- even as the 
fighting season is underway now. 
 
KABUL 00001701  002 OF 002 
 
 
WOOD