SIGAR Audit-10-16

OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION Lessons Learned in Preparing and Conducting Elections in Afghanistan September 9, 2010 SIGAR Audit 10-16 Governance/Elections OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION September 9, 2010 The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton U.S. Secretary of State The Honorable Karl W. Eikenberry U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan The Honorable Rajiv Shah Administrator U.S. Agency for International Development Mr. Earl Gast USAID Mission Director to Afghanistan This letter provides information prepared by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) regarding lessons learned in the preparation and conduct of the 2009 election in Afghanistan. We are providing this letter now, in advance of the September 18, 2010 elections, to serve as a baseline for observers who will be assessing and commenting on these elections. Strengthening the electoral system in Afghanistan is a key component of the U.S. government’s democracy and governance strategy. The United States, in coordination with other international donors, invested approximately $500 million in 2009 to improve Afghanistan’s electoral capacity and associated civic participation programs. The 2009 elections exhibited some of the same difficulties of the first election cycle from 2004 and 2005, according to USAID. Reports from official election observers, ...