GHAZNI CITY (PAN): Around 11,000 people, including 3,000 women, have been issued with voter cards so far in southern Ghazni province, officials said on Friday.  
Voter registration centres were yet to be opened in Taliban-infested Zankhan and Nawa districts, an Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman confirmed.
Noor Mohammad Noor told Pajhwok Afghan News efforts were underway to open the registration centres as soon as possible.
But the IEC chief for Ghazni, Abdul Basir Jalali, said they had encountered no problem so far anywhere in the province in distribution of voter cards.
While acknowledging the centres could not be opened in Zankhan, Nawa and Khogyani towns due to insecurity, Jalali said women’s participation in the registration process was far from satisfactory.
A number of women, meanwhile, verified their inability to apply for voter cards due to family problems, social pressures and customs and insecurity in the province.
Hamida Gulistani, a member of the provincial council, confirmed women’s participation in the registration campaign had been lackadaisical.
There is only one registration centre in Ghazni City, the provincial capital, according to the public representative, who said women from far-flung areas found it difficult visiting the office.
She believed three centres should have been opened in the provincial capital to enable females to receive voter cards and ensure their active participation in the 2014 elections.
Another woman, Zehra, said she did a lot to convince her family to let her receive the voter card. Having come to Ghazni City from a remote village to collect her card, she also complained of poor security and a shortage of registration centres.
Provincial election authorities admitted there were problems, including local customs, which prevented many women from receiving voter cards.