Voter registration: Some Jawzjan women lack ID cards

SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): A number of women in northern Jawzjan province could not participate in the voter registration process for the presidential elections because they don’t have identity cards or Tazkira, local officials said Wednesday.

Zoya Zalal, in charge of the gender section in Jawzjan’s governor’s house, expressed concern over lack of ID cards with women in the province.

She said some women in the province had no ID cards, therefore they would be deprived of participating in the voter registration process.

Besides ID cards problem, women in Jawzjan also face security and cultural issues that keep them away from participating in national programs, she said.

Zalal said the Independent Election Commission (IEC) should spread awareness through social media and help increase women’s participation in the upcoming presidential election.

Noor Mohammad Ahmadzai, a resident of Shiberghan, the provincial capital, said that deliberate attempts were being made in the society to deprive women of their right to enfranchise.

“Opponents try to keep both women and men away from participating in elections by spreading different propagandas. Taliban are not transparent and people should avoid them,” he said.

Ahmadzai said security issues were another challenge particularly for women to participate in elections. He said officials concerned should deal with these problems by developing effective programs.

Roya Haidari, a woman from Jawzjan, said some families in rural areas did not allow their women to participate in elections.

She said officials concerned should conduct awareness programs for people and portray a positive image of elections.

“The time of voter registration process is very limited, a large number of women would deprive of participating in elections if they did not receive awareness,” she said.

Mohammad Aslam, in charge of public awareness and public relations in the IEC’s regional office in Jawzjan, said, “We have implemented programs for encouraging people to participate in elections, now our mobile teams go to rural areas to campaign for the process.”

Except in Khamab district, voter registration centers are currently active in 10 districts of Jawzjan and around 200 men and women get their vote cards each day, he said.

He said around 60,000 people including 40 percent of them women had participated in Wolesi Jirga elections in October 2018.

Mds/ma