Above 3 million registered as voters nationwide

KABUL (Pajhwok): So far more than three million people have registered to vote in the Oct 20 parliamentary and district council elections countrywide, officials said on Saturday, as above 1,000 voter registration centers stayed closed for security reasons.

The Wolesi Jirga) acting secretary Awrangzaib to brief lawmakers on the voter’s registration process and the delay in paper nationall Identity Cards (ID) or Tazkera distribution.

Some lawmakers claimed voter registration could not kicked off in many districts while massive corruption plagued the distribution of Tazkera.

Awrangzaib told the lawmakers that as of Friday, 30,22,426 people -- including over two million men and 890,000 women --- have registered as voters across the country.

He said the first phase of voter registration kicked off in provincial capitals where 127 voter registration centers out of total 1,491 centers could not be opened due to security threats.

The phase two of the voter’s registration was dedicated to district centers where out of 4,491 registration centers, 1,164 could be made operational.

The IEC acting secretary said 428 registration centers remained closed in areas or districts were the Taliban were in control. Some 433 voter centers stayed shut due high security threats while another 300 could not be made functional because necessary materials could not reach there.

He, however, said the IEC was trying to find other ways for registration of eligible voters so everyone was able to participate in the Wolesi Jirga polls.

About further extension in the voter registration deadline, Awrangzaib said the process of registration had been extended in provincial capitals and if needed would be prolonged in district centers as well.

PRD Head Humayon Muhtat said: “We did not use Tazkera as a voter card because we knew it could create problems.”

He said currently 1,057 teams were tasked countrywide with distributing Tazkera to people. Referring to corruption allegations by some lawmakers, Muhtat said his department found no incident of corruption in which an PRD employee sold Tazkera.

nh/ma