KABUL - Officials from the IEC said the first phase of the voter registration process will start on Saturday.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Thursday announced it will start the voter registration process within the next two days.
As such, IEC officials have called on the public to register their names once the process gets underway.
Those eligible to vote will be able to register at the various centers around the country, said an IEC commissioner Sayed Hafiz Hashimi. 
Meanwhile residents in Kabul said the public is largely unaware of the procedure. 
“Until now I know nothing about the election process and voter registration (process); we don’t have any experience in elections,” said one Kabul shopkeeper, Hajji Ahmad.
“Our votes will not have any value or meaning,” a taxi driver Shafiq said.
“Elections must be held in a transparent manner so that we can elect credible candidates,” said Kabul resident Jan Aqa.
According to the IEC, all necessary arrangements for the elections have been completed and election materials have been delivered to all provinces. 
“The list will be prepared, this list will be shared with the people of Afghanistan, the same list will be put up on a wall before the voters arrive at the polling centers to cast their ballots,” said Hashimi.
“Public awareness campaigns are one of the most important aspects of the process; if the commission is able to rebuild the public’s trust and then safeguard the public’s trust, it will not be necessary to invest in these processes,” said Habibullah Shinwari, a member of Election Watch Afghanistan.
The voter registration process will be broken up into three phases.
In the first phase, those eligible to vote can register at IEC offices in provincial centers from April 14 to May 12.
In the second phase, which starts from May 15 and continues to May 28, the process will be carried out in the districts.
In the third phase, which starts from May 28 to June 22, the voter process will be carried out in remote regions of the country. 
The IEC has estimated the cost of the voter registration process will be $30 million USD and it has hired over 11,000 people for the duration of the registration process.
The IEC and the government have earmarked 7,300 polling centers across the country, however, nearly 1,000 of these centers are located in areas out of government’s control.  (Tolo news)