We should praise the Afghan voters who turned out on the August 20th Election despite the threats and intimidation by Taliban insurgents. However, we should not praise the people who cheated at the polls and by doing so, damaged the growth of democracy in Afghanistan.

Voters cheated in various ways.  Some voters washed the ink off their fingers and voted many times – sometimes more than six. A large number of children voted even though the legal age is 18.  Samim, 16, a Kabuli citizen said that he voted at least six times. Nadima, a 16-year-old girl whose voting card did not have a photo, voted in Sawad-e Hayati School, a polling center in central Kabul.

In a democratic society where the rule of law is respected, people, themselves, have the greatest burden of responsibility.  It is the people who benefit or who lose by the way elections are conducted.
The problems and irregularities that have been reported in this election raise questions about the performance of the Independent Election Commission (IEC). How could the IEC be so careless that six voting cards were issued for one person? Why did the IEC issue voting cards to people under the age of 18?

The magnitude of abuses raises serious questions about the vision people have of an election process. 

We cannot expect good performance from a government that is legitimized through a fraudulent process. Irresponsible participation by the people , on one side, and failure of the IEC to monitor and correct its own system, on the other, endangers the only process that gives people a role to play in their political destiny. It threatens the entire, newly-developed democracy in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, rigging people’s votes and violating the principles of elections is against the Holy religion of Islam. This action in Islam is considered a ‘betrayal to the integrity of one’s trust’.

In Islam, the act of voting, in addition to being a right is a responsibility that a voter offers to a candidate who is qualified. Every Muslim must be honest at all times. All his actions are seen by God, whether he acts in secret or not. If a candidate wins the election through a fraudulent vote that a voter has added to the ballot box, then that voter is responsible for the injustice that takes place.
Avoiding vote rigging is a civic responsibility and a religious responsibility. Every voter, in addition to avoiding fraud himself, must encourage others not to commit fraud.

The outcome of fraud is often the election of corrupt and dishonest leaders.  We are wise to remember the proverb, ‘People get the leaders they deserve!’ 

In addition to voters, political parties and civil society can play an important role in the conducting of free and fair elections. Currently, in Afghanistan, political parties do not have a strong influence on elections; however, they can support the transparency of elections and insist that their party workers do the same.

Now, it appears that political parties instead of supporting the whole process only looked after the interest of their own party or candidate. When fraud took place in favor of their own candidate, instead of stopping it, they encouraged the violators to commit even more fraud. 

In a polling center in Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Kabul, I saw a voter who was attempting to receive a ballot paper using the copy of his voting card. The agent of a political party noticed the illegal attempt but did not stop the violator because he was voting in favor of the agent’s candidate.  

Ordinary citizens are often the first to be concerned about the aftermath of a political event. Therefore, in any election, the people, in addition to avoiding rigging votes themselves, must protect the process by stopping the interference of any power who would attempt to undermine the transparency and fairness of the vote.