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Viewing cable 09KABUL237, PHASE 4 VOTER REGISTRATION HUMS ALONG

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09KABUL237 2009-02-01 12:03 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kabul
VZCZCXRO0203
PP RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0237 0321203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011203Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7098
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS KABUL 000237 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR MCGRAW 
CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: PHASE 4 VOTER REGISTRATION HUMS ALONG 
 
REF: KABUL 000154 
 
1.  (SBU) Election and security officials report the voter 
registration update in Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Nimroz 
is working smoothly, with some ten days of the planned 30-day 
period complete.  The US PRT officer in Helmand on January 28 
visited the voter registration site in Nad Ali district, and 
found it well-organized and busily signing up a sizable 
number of voters. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Five Helmand districts -- Khanas, Dishu, Washir, 
Now Zad, and Baghran -- are inaccessible to government 
representatives because of Taliban presence and do not have 
voter registration centers.  Demand in Lashkar Gah, the 
capital of Helmand, is unexpectedly high, however, and the 
Independent Election Commission (IEC) has authorized the 
Provincial Electoral Officer (PEO) to add two additional 
sites there.  Election officials speculate that persons from 
the five districts are taking advantage of travel along the 
main road through the capital to register.  Five mobile teams 
are operating in Helmand as well.  The IEC has relocated 
sites planned for the dangerous districts of Ghorak and Mayan 
Nasheen in Kandahar to adjacent market areas, an adjustment 
that worked well in Zabul province in Phase 3. 
 
3.  (SBU) Turnout remains modest, but officials speculate it 
may increase toward the end of the update, as has occurred in 
other phases.  As of January 31, 116,918 new voters across 
the four provinces had registered.  This figure is about  10 
percent of the existing rolls; other phases have finished at 
around 35 per cent of 2004/5 registrations, so with twenty 
days to go the Phase 4 provinces may also reach this goal. 
The number of women to date --  25,167 -- appears 
significantly lower than in other provinces, with IEC 
headquarters data showing about 20 per cent and site workers' 
estimates of female participation ranging from 5 to 15 per 
cent of the total number of new voters.  IEC headquarters has 
yet to confirm whether it will follow its precedent in other 
phases and add back days of registration for sites which 
opened late due to delays in delivery of materials (reftel.) 
 
4.  (SBU)  Coordination among Afghan security forces is 
working well and cooperation with ISAF is ongoing. The Afghan 
National Army (ANA) deployed 150 men to Nimroz province, 
where it usually has no presence, in response to the police's 
request for support during voter registration.  UK police 
mentors have increased their presence in Sangin district, 
Helmand, to support police voter registration work there. 
ISAF provided air support to deliver materials in Helmand and 
Uruzgan.  Police in Kandahar arrested suspects after two 
armed men shot and killed a police officer guarding a women's 
voter registration site in Kandahar city on January 28.  The 
center re-opened the next day, after police and intelligence 
officials completed their on-site investigation. 
WOOD