Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Women’s Turnout Weak in Voter Registration Third Round: IEC

Women’s Turnout  Weak in Voter  Registration Third Round: IEC

KABUL - The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said after the third round of the voter registration process ended on November 11 that turnout from Afghan women had been disappointingly low.

Of the roughly three million Afghans who have received voting cards this year, the IEC said only 30 percent of them are women.

With the spring Presidential and Provincial Council elections being the first fully administered by Afghans, without the oversight of NATO authorities, the pressure to perform and do so with credibility has never been higher. The fact that the spring vote will be the first one since 2001 that President Hamid Karzai cannot run, and happening in the same here NATO troops withdraw, only adds to the anticipation of the elections.

The 2009 Presidential elections were marred by insecurity, low voter turnout and electoral improprieties ranging from ballot stuffing to intimidation. So for the IEC and others charged with orchestrating the elections, legitimacy and popular support for them is essential.

For those reasons the voter registration process, which began back in June, has been such a focus of the IEC. Nevertheless, as the third phase of the process that saw registration staff extend out to even the most isolated areas of the country comes to an end, registration of female voters is not where officials want it to be.

In 2009, NATO officials who helped oversee the elections reported that female participation was anywhere between 35-38 percent, markedly higher than the amount of female voters registered thus far by the IEC.

As the IEC enters the most reduced stage of its registration process, where services are only available in provincial capitals, the prospect of the number of Afghan women with voters cards spiking ahead of April are not promising.

Some have argued Afghan women just need to be more informed about the elections and their right to vote. If they are aware, and services are available, they will participate so the argument goes.

But IEC officials in Southern Helmand province on Wednesday said the continued sway of strict traditional gender roles and the lack of female registration employees available were making it hard to register Afghan women.

"I have been a teacher for more than 20 years, and I know the procedure of the election," one female middle school teacher in Kabul who asked not to be named told TOLOnews. "However, without my husband's permission, I cannot go to the polling center to vote. Besides, I have little confidence in the government, because ours is a male-dominated society."

While officials from the United Nations (UN) and NATO coalition have praised the IEC's handling of voter registration and the pre-election process more broadly, others have been less positive. Many civil society groups, including democracy and women's advocacy organizations, have called for greater focus on getting women registered and ready to vote in April.

But with entrenched social norms likely behind the halting progress of female participation, it is unclear the extent of impact organizing and activist groups can have.

The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA), at least, is still very much dedicated to getting more women involved, and has not limited its aspirations to voting either.

"We not only have to encourage them to learn about the elections, but also encourage them to take an active part in voting, joining the Electoral Commission and monitoring the election process," said Sughra Saadat, TEFA's women affairs officer.

The 2014 Presidential elections could mark the country's first democratic transition of Presidential power in history. More broadly, the elections have been presented as a pivotal moment as Afghanistan looks to build on the progress of the past twelve years.

But if most Afghan women are too isolated or too submissive to exercise their vote in April, that very progress that has been heralded by Afghans and foreigners alike is brought into question. (Tolo News)