JCC reviews election security in Kandahar
By Pfc. Vicent Fussco
September 28, 2005
KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Sept. 28, 2005)--Parliamentary elections in Kandahar Province were a smooth, secure operation thanks to Afghan Security Forces working through the Joint Coordination Center.
The week before the Sept. 18 election, representatives from the Coalition, Afghan National Army and Police, highway patrol, and the National Directorate of Security took extra steps to make sure the community and security forces were prepared.
“The basic mission of the JCC was to ensure all Afghan Security Forces were working together to maintain a safe environment for the election,” said Army Capt. Wayne Ehmer, the officer in charge of the JCC from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment.
The JCC formed a security plan that included the management of over 200 polling centers in the province. Checkpoints and outposts kept a current intelligence picture for the JCC to track, and the Provincial Reaction Force performed joint rehearsals to test their readiness.
“Basicially, if anything happens in the province, we know about it,” said Ehmer.
On Sept. 16, Army Lt. Col. Bert Ges, Task Force Gun Devil commander, 3-319th and Kandahar Province governor Khalid Asadullah toured outlying villages to meet with district leaders and hear their concerns about the election and other matters.
The visits also allowed the Coalition to conduct pre-election inspections of the voting sites and gather support to ensure a safe and secure environment, said Ges.
“[Asadullah] was very pleased with the whole setup,” Ges said. “This was a synchronized effort between the Joint Election Management Board, local security and the Kandahar JCC.”
Polling sites in Kandahar City were given a final check Sept. 17 by the Kandahar Provincial Reaction Force, a team of Afghan National Army soldiers operating out of the JCC.
“We wanted to do an on-the-ground assessment and confirm the location of the polling sites,” said Army 1st Lt. Christian Stone, the officer in charge of the PRF from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Each polling site needed to have voting materials ready, and those in charge of the sites knew what to do in the event of a contingency. Most of the polling sites were boys and girls’ schools that had Afghan National Police security in place even before the election, said Stone.
“It’s the Afghans who took charge of the process,” said Ehmer. “No bases were left uncovered.”
On Sept. 18, as the greater population cast their vote, the joint effort successfully secured a weapons cache in Panjwayi District. Caches were also found in Talukhan and a total of 14 suspected insurgents were detained.
Villages of Minashin, Ghorak and Shah Wali Kot, areas that were considered a Taliban safe haven four or five months ago, reported a higher voter turnout after election day than the presidential elections two years ago.
Initial reports reported a total voter turnout of more than 50 percent, but a lower total number of voters than those of the presidential election.
“I think some people had trouble understanding what parliamentary elections were,” Ges reasoned. “This was an offset year for the election.”
Ehmer reasoned that it was the combined cooperation of the JCC and everyone’s immediate, decisive responses to the minor incidents in the province that achieved the election’s quiet results.
“This organization kept the wolves at bay,” said Ehmer. “I think it’s a pilot program for the other provinces to emulate.”
(Editor’s note: Pfc. Vincent C. Fusco is with Task Force Bayonet Public Affairs, 20th Public Affairs Detachment.)
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