§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest estimate is of the number and percentage of registered voters for the pending national election in each province of Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [172091]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienAccording to the Afghanistan Joint Electoral Monitoring Body, as of 6 May a total of 2,033,568 Afghans (approximately 20 per cent.) have been registered to vote, of whom 30 per cent. (615,818) are women. Following is a regional breakdown.
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Regional breakdown Number Central 837,650 East 299,416 North East 150,790 South East 49,844 Central Highlands 46,576 North 212,568 South 143,846 West 292,878 Phase I of voter registration (in Kabul and regional centres) has been completed. Phase II (designed to reach more rural areas) was launched on 1 May.
The UK is committed to supporting the electoral process. Last year we contributed £10.55 million to support election registration. We have pledged a further £0.5 million for voter education and £2.77 million to support preparations for the elections themselves.