Afghanistan today started registering new voters for elections next year, a crucial step towards a legitimate government taking over when President Hamid Karzai relinquishes power.
Four million names are expected to be added to the electoral roll before polls in April 2014, though many Afghans fear that the date could be delayed due to the threat of attack by the Taliban insurgency.
The presidential race -- from which Karzai is barred after serving two terms -- is seen as the key test of the success of US-led international military intervention since the Taliban regime fell in 2001.
"Today we are happy to have launched the voter registration process," Fazel Ahmad Manawi, head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), said at a registration centre in Kabul.
"We will implement all the election processes step by step according to the timetable."
Registration began in 41 centres in all 34 provinces for those who have turned 18, had previously not registered or have lost their voter cards. About 16 million voters are already registered.
The process will last two months in the cities and will then move to rural districts and villages, continuing until just before election day.
The last presidential elections, held in late 2009, were marred by massive fraud, and another flawed poll would wreck claims that international efforts have helped to establish a functioning state in Afghanistan.
In 2009, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) threw out around one third of votes -- about half a million -- cast for Karzai, sparking a run-off from which his rival Abdullah Abdullah ultimately withdrew.
The election next year coincides with the withdrawal of the 100,000 NATO combat troops as Afghan security forces take charge of the battle against the Taliban.
"We do have concerns about security," Manawi said. "We will follow the police, if they can go there we can go there too.
"We hope Afghan forces provide security for the voter registration centres, so that we have a transparent election."
Karzai has vowed to work to ensure a free and fair election, and interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP that the army and police would be able to guarantee security.
