Female Voter Registration Lags in Helmand
Getting Afghan women voter cards has proven a challenge for the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which has made female turnout a top priority this election cycle, but southern Helmand province is said to be an especially challenging environment due to strict traditional values and the lack of female registration employees.
With the end of village voter registration this past Monday, the IEC's registration process enters a new stage in which those who wish to get voter cards will have to take it upon themselves to travel to provincial capitals to visit Commission offices.
Over three million Afghans have been registered nationwide, but officials have expressed dissatisfaction with the number of Afghan women with voter cards as the final and most drawn-down stage of registration begins.
According to Helmand provincial IEC officials, out of the total number of registered voters in the province only 30 percent are women.
The IEC office in Helmand as well as the central office in Kabul declined to provide the exact numbers of residents registered to vote, or just the amount of women with voter cards, but all agreed there have been many challenges during the registration process in the province.
"Female turnout in voter registration process in Helmand has been weak, we are really concerned about it," Helmand IEC head Qudratollah Naqshbandi told TOLOnews.
He maintained that the traditional values that keep women from engaging life in the public sphere were preventing Helmand women from registering to vote. He also said that lack of adequate numbers of female IEC employees to service potential female voters was a major issue.
"Unfortunately, traditional values and secondly a lack of female employees in the Election Commission were major factors behind low female participation in the voter registration process."
Although the IEC will keep registration services available around the country until a week before the election day on April 5, they are only provided in provincial capitals.
Civil society activists and government officials have called on Afghan women to exercise their right to vote and register for the spring elections. However, with the last stage of registration starting, the window of opportunity to make that happen is rapidly closing
Source: http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/12581-female-voter-registration-lags-in-helmand
Millions of voters registered for Afghan elections
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said Wednesday more than 3 million people registered to vote in next year's elections during a national campaign. Provincial council and presidential elections are scheduled April 5. UNAMA said a voter registration drive by the country's Independent Election Commission brought in more voters.
The U.N. mission said about 30 percent of the 3,007,668 voters registered during the campaign drive are women.
IEC's campaign targeted newly eligible voters, Afghans who have relocated or moved back to the country and those who may have lost their registration cards from previous elections.
"Afghan-led and Afghan-managed elections are at the very heart of the country's political transition, and UNAMA reiterates the importance of public participation in order to ensure transparent, credible and inclusive elections," the mission said in a statement.
Next year will mark the first time power is transferred from one elected government to another in Afghanistan's history.
The IEC said, as of October, there were 26 applicants, including one female, registered for presidential elections. More than 3,000 applications, including 323 women, were registered for provincial council elections.
The IEC said the names of the candidates are confidential.
Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/11/13/Millions-of-voters-registered-for-Afghan-elections/UPI-69171384366020/#ixzz2kdHnAcAa
