Few Afghans register

– Afghanistan has begun registering voters across the wartorn country as it tries to ensure that long-delayed legislative elections scheduled for October are seen as credible and fraud-free.

In an operation that began at the weekend and will last for two months, authorities hope to register up to 14 million adults at more than 7 000 polling centres – an ambitious goal in a country where militants control or contest much of the territory.

“The main challenge is insecurity, particularly in rural areas,” Abdul Badie Sayad, chairperson of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), said recently.

In addition to the Taliban and Islamic State group terrorising swathes of the population, “local powers, illegal militias and strongmen will try to interfere” in the parliamentary and district council elections, Sayad predicted.

A shortage of female staff at polling centres, particularly in conservative rural areas, could also impede participation by women in the polls, seen as a test run for next year’s presidential election.

“Women won’t be given permission by their families to go to registration centres where they may be asked to remove their burqa to show their faces,” Sayad said.

In Kabul on Saturday, police stood guard at a school being used as a registration centre, but only a handful of men showed up. The turnout was no better on Sunday.

The October 20 polls were originally set to be held in 2015, but were repeatedly pushed back due to security fears and logistical problems within the fragile unity government.

Candidates will contest the 249 seats in the National Assembly for five-year terms. The country will also hold regional elections in tandem in hundreds of districts across Afghanistan, some of which are outside Kabul’s control.

A television advertising campaign has been launched to persuade people that their votes count – a challenging task after a disputed presidential election in 2014.

“We are trying very hard to increase the confidence of the public, to increase the legitimacy of the elections,” Sayad said.

Another hurdle to voter registration is the lack of national identification cards, particularly among women. Just over half the population has them and the government hopes to issue another 10 million to enable more people to register to vote, officials said.

There are also concerns over how people in areas controlled or contested by insurgents will be able to register and vote safely.

Afghan security forces have been tasked with protecting polling centres, even as they struggle to get the upper hand against militants on the battlefield. President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday called on the Taliban to take up his offer to take part in the elections as a political party. The Taliban has not responded. – AFP