Khost residents say failing to get voter cards

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Residents on Wednesday complained they were failing to obtain voter registration cards due to insufficient staff at the provincial Independent Election Commission (IEC)’s registration centre in the capital of southeastern Khost province.

They said there were only two officials issuing voter cards to people and the pair had been unable to deal with so many individuals visiting the office.

Everyday two to four hundred people, including women, are seen waiting for their turn outside the registration center in Khost City to get voter cards.

An elder from Qalandar district, Abdul Hanan, told Pajhwok Afghan News he arrived at the registration office around 8am and waited until it was 12pm, but failed to obtain his voter card. He added the slow-paced registration process was due to insufficient staff.

Other residents said the number of people applying for voter cards was on the increase and asked IEC officials to increase the number of officers in order to register more and more voters ahead of the election day (April 5).

A Tanai district resident, Mohammad Basir, said it was his third day visiting the registration office to get his voter card, but failed.

He said he had to leave all his other activities undone, but the registration officers had no concern about people waiting outside their office to register.

Basir asked IEC officials to open more registration offices and appoint more staff; otherwise, he feared many would be left without cards.

A taxi driver, Mohammad Ayub, said he stopped driving and went to a voter registration office, but failed to succeed in his bid.

Khost IEC chief Mohammad Shafiqui Wafa said they had opened one extra registration office due to the increasing number of people calling for voter cards.

He acknowledged people’s interest in getting vote cards had increased and they were keen to take part in the coming elections, adding the IEC main office was planning to set up more registration offices in provincial capitals.

He said the issue of increasing number of visitors to the registration office had been shared with the main office in Kabul.

There is only one voter registration office with two branches in Khost City. More than 90,000 people have so far been issued voter cards in the province.

mds/ma

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