For the elections in Afghanistan, NATO did not have 4 thousand soldiers.

To ensure the safety of the presidential elections in Afghanistan, the international coalition would require an additional 4 battalions, or about 4 thousand troops. The statement was made by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said Reuters.
Currently, the composition of the coalition forces in Afghanistan are, according to data from NATO (PDF, 225 kb), approximately 60 thousand troops. A large part of the amount to the Americans - almost 30 thousand people. Note that the U.S. president Barack Obama has promised to withdraw troops from Iraq and send additional forces to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
Election of President of Afghanistan, appointed in August 2009. Originally they were to be held in March, but because of threats of fighters of the Taliban, the authorities decided to postpone the ballot date. Also carry the elections due to the peculiarities of the local climate: the winter and early spring the mountain areas of the country are trudnodosyagaemymi, and it is very difficult to deliver the newsletters.