Women make half of 8000 fresh Nuristan voters

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Women make almost half of 8,000 people who have so far registered themselves as voters in eastern Nuristan province, officials said Tuesday.

Baz Mohammad Nuristani, Independent Election Commission (IEC) head for Nuristan, told Pajhwok Afghan News most of the women registering as voters hailed from capital Paroon and nearby districts.

“Since the beginning of registration process until now, some 7,709 people have registered, with women constituting 45 percent of them.”

He recalled in the past, women’s participation in electoral process had been low because most of the women previously lacked paper national ID card or Tazkera.

Nuristan women’s affairs director Zaheda Faizan in the past most women had been without ID cards but now their interest in getting Tazkera and to register as voter had increased.

“There is no hurdle to women to register as voters at registration centers of Paroon and adjourning districts”, she added.

Faizan said her department also worked for creating voter awareness and women were asked to register as voters.

Provincial Council (PC) head Eng. Saeedullah Nuristani told Pajhwok Afghan News that little work had been done so far in the area of voter awareness in Nuristan.

In the beginning, people were unaware why stickers were attached to their Tazkera, but later the process got momentum as potential candidates surfaced.

Gulalai, a resident of Nuristan, alleged lawmakers from her province had never done good to the province. She said she would vote for a candidate who could serve the people of Nuraistan and women.

In more than a month, above 2.3 million people registered themselves across the country to vote in Oct 20 Wolesi Jirga and district council elections, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Monday.

The voter registration process for the upcoming elections has been ongoing since April 14 and the commission has accelerated its efforts at holding free, fair and transparent polls.

According to the IEC information, the voter registration drive would be completed in two phases — first in cities and the second phase in districts centers and villages.

However, the IEC extended the voter registration deadline for another month both in districts and provinces.

nh/ma

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