BUB: Looking Ahead to the Afghan Elections

Look, we all know it's going to be screwed up by US/Western standards, but let's not get down about election-eve kidnappings.

Two Afghan candidates for Saturday's parliamentary elections and 18 poll officials and campaign workers have been kidnapped.
The Taliban are suspected of abducting the would-be MPs in the eastern Laghman province and western Herat province.
The militants said they had seized the 18 poll officials and campaign workers in north-western Bagdhis province.
The Taliban have threatened countrywide attacks on Saturday targeting voters and election workers.
More than 2,500 candidates are standing for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabullah Mojahed, told the BBC they had kidnapped candidate Mawli Hayatullah in Laghman on Friday.

Instead, let's rejoice in a country building a new history of public participation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is urging citizens to vote in this weekend's parliamentary election despite threats from the Taliban warning people not to leave their homes.
Karzai told reporters Friday that instead of making threats, the Taliban should serve their country.
The president says citizens should not succumb to pressure to vote for anyone except their favorite candidate, nor accept money from people trying to influence their vote.

And if that fails, we can follow Danger Room's suggestion, and track the Afghanistan election fraud yourself from the safety of home.


If things go awry, it's not because of lack of support, either. The laundry list of people lending a hand include
-- The Aussies
-- The Turks (tho we don't know if they're the Young Turks or somewhat older)
-- The Poles
And...
wait for it...
wait for it...
no, really, wait for it...
-- The VERMONT ARMY NATIONAL GUARD!

The fast facts of the elections, from the BBC:

Date of voting: 18 September

• Number of eligible voters: about 10.5 million
  
• Number of seats: 249
  
• Total number of candidates: 2,514, including 406 women
  
• Total number of polling centres: 6,835
  
• Polling centres closed because of security concerns: 1,019
  
• Estimated cost: $150m (£95.5m), paid by international partners
  
• Security forces are setting up extra checkpoints across the country to stop suicide bombers and insurgents.

poll by twiigs.com

By: Brant