VZCZCXRO7273
PP RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0307 0411222
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101222Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7323
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 000307 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR MCGRAW 
CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: KEY DATES FOR AFGHANISTAN'S 2009 ELECTIONS 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  UNDP/ELECT on February 10 shared its schedule of 
key dates for Afghanistan's 2009 presidential and provincial 
council elections with donor representatives.  The schedule 
reflects both election operations, as organized by 
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC), and 
UNDP/ELECT project funding benchmarks. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  UNDP's schedule is: 
 
16 February IEC and UNDP finalize election budget. 
 
20 February IEC and UNDP finalize financial plan for election. 
 
28 February IEC and UNDP close voter registration budget. 
 
1 March     UNDP and donors finalize financial agreements. 
 
19 March    IEC and UNDP finalize resources, quantities, and 
specifications for election materials. 
 
31 March    UNDP/ELECT requires 50-60 M USD in funds to issue 
purchase orders. 
 
21 April    IEC publishes electoral calendar. 
 
25 April to 8 May Candidate nomination period. 
 
30 April    UNDP/ELECT requires balance of 2009 budget. 
 
9 May to 15 May   Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) 
scrutinizes candidate applications. 
 
16 May      ECC notifies candidates of any deficiencies in 
nomination applications. 
 
17 May to 22 May  Candidates must remedy any deficiencies in 
nomination applications. 
 
23 May to 25 May  ECC prepares preliminary list of candidates. 
 
26 May to 1 June  ECC displays preliminary list of 
candidates, challenges, corrections, appeals. 
 
26 May to 8 June  ECC conducts hearings and issues decisions. 
 
26 May to 8 June  ECC and/or DIAG (TBD) vet preliminary list 
of candidates. 
 
9 June      ECC informs IEC of candidates list decisions. 
 
9 June to 11 June IEC prepares list of candidates and 
finalizes ballot designs. 
 
11 June     IEC sends final ballot to printer. 
 
11 June     IEC publishes final list of candidates. 
 
15 July     Ballot printing complete. 
 
16 June to 18 August    Campaign period for candidates and 
parties. 
 
16 July     Ballots delivered to Kabul. 
 
17 July to 19 August    IEC packs ballots and kits for 
distribution to polling centers. 
 
20 August   Voting day. 
 
20 August   IEC retrieves results from polling centers. 
 
17 September      IEC certifies final results of presidential 
election. 
 
1 October   Planned date for presidential run-off election, 
if required. 
WOOD