One Afghan, 6 votes — and 5 up for sale
Monday, 16-Aug-2004

KABUL, August 16 (AP) -- To supplement his meagre income selling French fries from a cart, Aziz is cashing in on his newfound right to vote in Afghanistans first national presidential election.

After getting six voter registration cards — all containing his real name and photograph — he expects to make $1,000 for five cards and keep one for the Oct. 9 vote.

"I have only six cards but I have met many people who have 10 or nine cards," Aziz said.

For months, anecdotal stories have been circulating throughout Afghanistan of people illegally obtaining multiple voting cards in exchange for cash — which, in part, explains why the number of voting cards doled out exceeds the total number of estimated eligible voters.

After an eight-month voter registration campaign by the United Nations, registration centres throughout the country closed yesterday. Although the final tally is not yet in, U.N. election officials are scrambling to explain why more than 9.9 million cards have been issued, surpassing the original estimated 9.8 million voters.

In an election the U.S. had hoped to hold up as an example of democracy dawning in the developing world, there is now growing evidence that attempted vote-rigging has run amok.

"We know that multiple registration has happened," U.N. spokesperson Manoel de Almeida e Silva said yesterday. "We have no idea of what that volume is." The total number of cards issued will far exceed 10 million, he said.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai acknowledged that perhaps 1,000 to 100,000 people have more than one voting card.

"As a matter of fact it doesnt bother me if Afghans have two registration cards and if they like to vote twice, well welcome," Karzai said last week at a Kabul press conference with U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. "This is an exercise in democracy and let them exercise it twice."

U.S. President George W. Bush, who has lauded Afghanistan as a model for Iraq, said this month it was remarkable that so many Afghans have signed up.

"Nine million people have said to the world, `We love freedom, and were going to vote," he said in Washington.

Some people who have kept a watchful eye on the registration process, claim the numbers dont make sense.

In March, 15 weeks into the registration campaign, only 1.5 million voters had registered in eight cities. In May, when registration centres first opened throughout rural Afghanistan, numbers continued to trickle in.

But after mid-June, when Karzai visited the U.S., announcing that 3.7 million people had registered, the numbers began to skyrocket. In one month, the numbers doubled to 7 million, peaking at 120,000 to 200,000 voter ID cards each day.

Farooq Wardak, director of the Joint Electoral Management Body, said the estimated number of eligible voters — 9.8 million — is based on data collected last year by the Central Statistics Office.

He pointed out that refugees were not included in the original statistics and since last year, more than 1 million refugees who have returned to Afghanistan or are still in neighbouring countries have registered.

"I think that impressive amounts of registration have been done, given the circumstances, but I dont believe the figures," said Andrew Wilder, director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit.

One example of gross miscalculation has occurred in the province of Panjshir, where more than 124,000 voting cards have been issued, more than double the original voter estimate of 49,573.

Aziz said it was easy to get six voting cards. During a two-week period, he obtained four cards at two Kabul registration centres , then travelled to his home province of Baghlan and received two more cards.

When asked who is buying voting cards, Zuhoor Afghan, chief editor of Erada, a Kabul newspaper, answered: "Candidates who want to be president and political parties who belong to the candidates."

Gawhar, a Kabul University student, said her nephew has been approached several times at high school to sell his voter ID card. She also knows a Kabul woman who travelled to Laghman province and in two days obtained 40 cards by wearing a burqa and opting to provide her thumbprint rather than a photo.