Article 62(7) of the Electoral Law mandates the dissolution of the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) 60 days after the certification of the final election results – in the case of the 2010 Wolesi Jirga elections, this means on 31 January 2011. After this date the ECC ceases to exist.
The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is an independent Afghan body established under Article 61 of the Electoral Law to adjudicate all challenges and complaints related to the electoral process. The ECC is not part of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) of Afghanistan but an entirely separate and independent body. The ECC has been re-established for the 2010 Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) elections.
The ECC for the 2010 elections is composed of five commissioners appointed by the President: there are three national and two international commissioners. The Chairperson is Mr Justice Sayed Murad Sharifi (of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan) and the additional local members are Associate Professor Shah Sultan Akifi (Human Resources Director General at the Wolesi Jirga) and Mr Ahmad Zia Rafat (of the Faculty of Journalism at the University of Kabul). The two international members are Mr Safwat Sidqi of Iraq and Judge Johann Kriegler of South Africa.
The ECC has its headquarters in Kabul. In each province there is also a Provincial Electoral Complaints Commission (PECC) with its own commissioners and staff. Each PECC has the authority in the first place to make the initial decisions on electoral offences, subject to appeal to the ECC.
The ECC has two functions: in the first place it considers challenges to the eligibility of nominated candidates and challenges to the eligibility of voters. The Commission finalised its decisions on challenges to candidacies in time for the IEC to publish its final candidate list as demanded by the election timetable.
During the later stages of the electoral process – campaigning (23 June-16 September 2010), voting (18 September 2010), counting and tallying (18 September onwards) – the PECCs and the ECC deal with complaints regarding electoral offences as defined in Article 63 of the Electoral Act. Complaints have to be filed within three days of the commission of an offence or of the complainant becoming aware of it. The ECC and PECCs have the authority to impose sanctions and penalties as identified in Article 64 if an offence is found to have been committed. In addition, the ECC/PECCs deal with challenges to the eligibility of names on the voter list.
Any person or organisation with a legitimate interest alleging that an electoral offence has been committed may file a complaint at a provincial PECC office, at the ECC headquarters in Kabul, at any IEC office or at polling station. In addition, each PECC and the ECC itself has the power to investigate a matter on its own initiative, i.e. without there having been a complaint.
