15 September - "This election is about giving honest people the magic experience of voting to have a say in the governance of their country," Judge Johann Kriegler of Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission told international media at a press conference in Kabul today.

The five-member national institution, established in April this year under Afghanistan's electoral laws, will adjudicate complaints of electoral offences related to the 18 September Afghan parliamentary elections. Chaired by retired Afghan Supreme Court Judge Shafiri, the complaints body has three Afghan commissioners and two international commissioners.

Judge Kriegler told international media that he expected that there would be instances of fraud during the elections. "The reality is that Afghanistan is a war-torn country," he said. "There simply isn't a culture of electoral integrity embedded in the people yet. That can only come with the passage of time. And each successful election, or nearly successful election, prepares the way for this."

Responding to a question, Judge Kriegler said that "obviously widespread fraud would effect the legitimacy of the elections." "But," he went on to say, "talking up the fraud before the elections effects the legitimacy of the elections. I respectfully put it to you that I have seen evidence of talking up the fraud in every international newspaper I have read. But let's not prophesise."

Commissioners set out the efforts of the ECC this year to ensure proper adjudication of all complaints of electoral offences. Since this year's election is effectively 35 elections - one in each of 34 provinces and one constituency for the nomadic Kuchi community - the ECC has decentralised its operations to 34 Provincial ECCs. It is these PECCs, run by 114 provincial commissioners most of whom have legal qualifications, which have primary jurisdiction to hear complaints, with the national ECC considering appeals.

Judge Shafiri said that the ECC had received 1,089 complaints so far, on the eve of the close of the campaign period, and had completed its processes for 70 per cent of these complaints. He urged any voters or candidates who had complaints to come forward to the PECCs, ensuring that confidentiality would be protected.

With the campaign period closing at midnight on 15 September, voters go to the polls on 18 September. The Independent Election Commission plans to announce the provisional results in each of the 35 constituencies around 8 October, with final results, after the adjudication of complaints by the ECC, due at the end of October.

The parliamentary elections are fully Afghan organised and conducted. The Independent Electoral Commission is responsible for conducting the September parliamentary elections. The Electoral Complaints Commission adjudicates complaints of electoral offences. The United Nations is providing technical and logistical support to these two independent Afghan electoral institutions, in response to a formal request by the Government in January 2010, through the UNDP-ELECT programme. UNAMA supports the elections as part of Afghanistan's wider political process and its support for strengthening of democracy, but UNAMA has no role in implementing, supervising or monitoring the polls.