Voting Together: Why Afghanistan’s 2009 Elections were (and were not) a Disaster

This briefing paper analyses voter patterns and attitudes from three areas of Kabul Province, finding some positive signs amidst the general disarray of Afghanistan’s 2009 electoral process. At a local level, the elections did result in the changing of balances of power, both through representation on the Kabul Provincial Council and the dynamics of political campaigning. The elections generated considerable bargaining and debate within communities, and this often resulted in “bloc voting”—a practice not generally consistent with Western ideas of democratic participation, but a natural extension of the Afghan social and political context. However, AREU researchers also identified instances of serious fraud, particularly in relation to the provincial council election, and the paper warns that if the significant flaws in the electoral system are not addressed for the 2010 parliamentary election, democratisation gains in Afghanistan are in danger of being lost.