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UN Mission to Afghanistan says voter registration tops 500,000

UN Mission to Afghanistan says voter registration tops 500,000

President Karzai shows his voter registration card
More than half a million Afghans have now registered to vote in this year's national parliamentary and presidential elections, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced today.

A UNAMA spokesman reported that 507,513 people have enrolled to vote since registration began in early December, with women making up just over 112,000 – or 22 per cent. Up to 10 million people are estimated to be eligible to vote.

The spokesman said there has been a spike in registrations in the capital, Kabul, since President Hamid Karzai registered there on Saturday. Registration remains confined to eight cities around Afghanistan, with the rest of the country to follow when the security situation improves.

The spokesman said UNAMA and the Joint Electoral Management Body are discussing a regulation that would outlaw multiple registrations by one person and impose financial penalties or jail terms for offenders. A civic education programme on the subject will also be introduced.

Parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled for later this year. The spokesman said that on the day of the elections there would be procedures - such as marking voters' fingers with indelible ink - to prevent Afghans from voting more than once.

In another development, senior Afghan officials from Bamiyan province and officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will travel to Iran tomorrow to explain to Afghan refugees living there exactly what day-to-day conditions are like in Afghanistan.

The visit is the first of a series following an agreement reached between Iran and Afghanistan last year. More than 110,000 refugees from Bamiyan province alone are estimated to be living in Iran.