Voter's Registration Process Goes Well On Second Day

Source: 
Tolo News
Publication date: 
May 28 2013

More than 4,000 Afghan citizens across the country got their voter card in two days of the registration process, officials said on Tuesday.

The officials reported that the registration process did not face any security challenge in the last two days.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) opened registration centres on Sunday. The registration process will remain open for two months in these centres.

The IEC said that 4062 Afghan citizens including 588 women have received their voting cards in two days of the process across the country.

TOLOnews reporters had visited some of the registration centres to see how things are being managed.

"We have not faced any problem until now, neither security problem nor there was any shortage of the registration materials. In fact, our trained employees are also doing their work properly," Dr. Daoud, Head of IEC in the Nangarhar province said.

"The registration process is now open in the central provinces and later it will move to other districts. Our mission is to get every citizen a voter ID," Kunar Governor, Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi said.

"I came here to receive my voter's card so that I can vote for my candidate in the election," a Nangarhar resident told TOLOnews.

"I came here with my family to get the voter ID so that we all can vote for our country's next leader," a resident of Southern Kandahar province said.

But the registration process in the western Herat province was not significantly welcomed by the residents, as only 150 men and 30 women received voting cards in the province.

"Since it is the start of the registration process, most of the people are not aware about it. In the next few days, the centre will witness a sea of people," Zia Ahmad Zia, Head of IEC, Herat province said.

Meanwhile, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) warned about the security challenges and malpractices in certain districts.

FEFA's officials said that they are worried about the existence of old voting cards which were distributed in the last registration process in Afghanistan.

"When the process moves to the districts and remote areas of the country, lack of security, lack of media and less control by the IEC will affect the entire registration process and the voting card could be distributed illegally," Head of FEFA Jandad Spinghar said.

"The security forces will provide security during the registration process at the centres," the Interior Ministry Spokesman, Sediq Sediqi said.

Currently, 41 registration centers have been opened in the provinces of the country. Three centers are in Kabul.