Afghanistan started voter registration on Sunday, in preparation for next year’s presidential polls, an election commission official said.
“We started voter registration this morning in 41 different registration centres across the country in all of 34 provinces so that Afghans can use their given right to vote,” said Noor Mohammad Noor, a spokesman for the Afghan Independent Election Commission.
“It is going on well. In Kabul, there are three centres. We don’t have exact figures on the turnout, but initial reports say that the participation in registration process is encouraging,” he added.
Registration will continue until two weeks before election day, slated for April 5, 2014, the commission said.
Registrations from past polls would remain valid. The current drive is for those who missed past registration pushes, recently returned from abroad, have reached voting age since the last election, said Mr. Noor.
Security remains a concern in the run-up to the election, officials and analysts say, though they noted the registration drive had been closely coordinated with security agencies.
