The newly established Election Security Commission (ESC) acknowledged on Tuesday that insurgents had a dominant enough presence in five districts that authorities remained unable to transfer critical election materials to them.
The news was provided by Muhammad Salim Ehsas, who was appointed the head of the ESC earlier this week. The Commission was created by a Decree from President Hamid Karzai, and is intended to oversee security operations for the Presidential and Provincial Council elections and all related personnel, including candidates.
The new commission arrives at a time when many inside and outside the government have been increasingly worried about security threats to the election process. One of the chief concerns of officials surrounds isolated areas throughout the country that remain particularly out of reach for security forces, which has prevented the Independent Election commission (IEC) from being able to open up voter registration offices in a number of districts.
The announcement made on Tuesday that important election materials such as ballots and ballot boxes were not able to be transferred will add to anxieties about the vulnerability of the election preparation process to persisting insecurity issues.
"Electoral materials haven't been sent to Alasai district of Kapisa province, two districts in Helmand province, Nawah district in Ghazni province, and Dai Chopan district in Zabul province," said Ehsas. "There are serious security threats in these districts."
However, the ESC head said that some success in transporting election materials from Kabul to areas with security concerns was had when air travel was utilized. He did not say whether or not this option would be pursued for the aforementioned districts.
Connectivity between the election authorities in headquarters of the nation's capital and outlying provinces has been a perpetual issue in the lead up to the spring elections. Last week, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) said nearly half of the 474 complaints that were submitted against candidates faced delays in being moved from the provincial IEC offices where they were registered to Kabul, which was where they would be reviewed.
Although Ehsas assured that security would be in place and the elections would be held according to schedule on April 5 of next year, he also noted that over the past few months the Taliban carried out over fifty suicide attacks in thirty provinces, indicating the group's persistence and reach. He said he believed the Taliban would try to derail the elections, despite their claims to the contrary.