iec.org.af Voter Registration Afghanistan : Independent Election Commission

Name of the Organization : Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan
Type of Facility : Voter Registration
Country : Afghanistan

Website : https://iec.org.af/prs/

Voter Registration :

The voter registration is one of the steps of the election process, which allows the above 18 years old of Afghan Population in the country to obtain the voting cards.

Related : Ministry of Communications & IT National Identity Card Afghanistan : www.statusin.org/7852.html

There are 16,783,349 voters registered in the last four phases of 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008/09.

In 2010, 377,197 voters were registered in all thirty four provinces of Afghanistan during a period of two months between 22 Jawza and 21 Asad (12 June until the 12th of August).

Who can register?:
Voter registration exercises are intended to cater to those citizens who:
** Have become eligible to vote/reached the age of 18;
** Are eligible voters who have lost their previous voting card;
** Are Afghan citizens who arrived in the country;
** Have transferred from one constituency to another;
** Were previously not registered as voters.

How to register:
The IEC will announce further voter registration exercises as they are scheduled.

In order to register, all eligible voters must present themselves in person to an IEC voter registration location. They must present identification, which may include the following:
Tazkera; government employee identification; national passport; driving license; UNHCR Afghan Return Form; Afghan Residence Card (From Pakistan or Iran); Confirmation paper from Wakil (Head of Guzar) or Malik (Head of Village) certifying the applicant is an Afghan citizen and indicating his/her name, father’s name, grandfather’s name, date of birth and present address.

How and Where to Vote?:
Who can vote?:
All registered Afghans (who is at least 18 years of age, has Afghan citizenship, has not been deprived from his/her civil or political rights by a court of competent jurisdiction) with valid voter ID card will have the right to vote in elections.

Identification:
Individuals with voter registration cards issued in 2003, 04, 05, 08 and 2010 are allowed to vote. Polling station staff checks for ink (to ensure individuals have not already voted), for eligibility, and for identity.

Where to vote:
Registered voters can vote in the province where they are resident. However if a voter is Kuchi, he/she is allowed to vote only in Parliamentary and Presidential list around all the provinces, as all the country is a pooling center for Kochis.

When to vote:
Polling centers are opening for one day based on each Election timeline, after that specific period, no additional voters are permitted to join the queue.

At the polling center:
Within a polling centre, there are male and female polling stations. In some centers there are also stations for Kuchis. In some provinces, the IEC establishes specific polling centers for Kuchis.

Not more than 600 voters are allowed to vote in any given polling station.

Polling Staff. Polling staff, under the supervision of the District Field Coordinators, are the officials responsible for running centers/stations and processing voters.

Polling Station Staff. Each polling station consists of the following staff members:
** Polling Station Chairperson (PSC);
** Identification/Inking Officer;
** Ballot Paper Issuer; and,
** Ballot Box Controller.

Polling Centre Staff. Consists of:
** Polling Centre Manager;
** Assistant Polling Centre Manager (for centres with 12 or more polling stations); and,
** Queue Controllers (1-4).

Observers, media, candidate/party agents who are accredited by the IEC may also be present in the polling center.

While voting:
Each voter must vote in person. Voting on behalf of another person is not permitted. Each voter must mark his/her ballots in secret behind the voting screen provided for this purpose. Family or group voting, where more than one person is behind the voting screen at a time, is not permitted.

The elderly, people with disabilities, nursing and pregnant women are given preference in the polling center. Finally, once a voter has cast a ballot he or she must leave the polling station.