Clarification of New York Times Article: FEFA Will Observe Insecure Areas

FEFA chairman Nader Nadery was quoted and FEFA’s observation mission referenced in  Alissa Rubin’s August 11 New York Times article, ‘Unrest Is Undermining Hopes for Afghan Vote.’

The Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, a nongovernmental election monitoring organization, will have observers in roughly 60 percent of polling centers, said Ahmad Nader Nadery, its chairman. That leaves those parts of the country that are most insecure almost certainly without observers.

FEFA would like to clarify the breadth of its observation mission and intended Election Day observer deployment.

Currently, FEFA’s long-term observers are based in all 34 provinces to observe the campaigns at the provincial level, and volunteer observers are working in many districts as well.

Three factors will determine FEFA’s observer deployment at the district and local levels on Election Day 2010:

1. The security situation in each potential observation area.
2. The presence of a capable partner organization from which to recruit and train short-term observers.
3. Observers’ access to communication facilities.

As a national civil society organization committed to strengthening the democratization process and protecting political rights, FEFA is determined to observe as many polling centers as possible, including centers located in insecure areas.

On Election Day, FEFA will have the widest presence of any observer organization in Afghanistan.