The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) on Thursday said it expects to launch the electronic voter registration process within the next few weeks.

The necessary equipment for the process has been purchased and will arrive in the country shortly, said IEC secretary and spokesman Abdul Badi Sayyad.

However, he confirmed that 25 IEC directorates in provinces were still being run by caretakers.

Meanwhile, election monitoring groups and observers said the vacant posts within the election commission would have serious implications and affect the credibility and legitimacy of the elections.

The voter registration process will begin; this is the second phase of our work; we have bought equipment from abroad which will arrive in the country soon; qualified people will be hired and they will be trained in biometrics and the voter registration process will begin, said Sayyad.

According to IEC officials, there are nearly 80 vacancies within the election commission and only ten of its directorates are run by caretakers in the provinces.

Of the thirty four provinces, the heads of nine directorates were appointed legitimately and they went through the necessary process; there are some acting chiefs who run the offices; ten directorates have been announced and eligible candidates will be tested and then the next ten directorates will be announced, said Sayyad.

Election monitoring groups argue that currently the election commission is dealing with a number of serious challenges such as the shortage of qualified staff and the lack of capacity within the commissions.

Observers say that political support for the elections is an important aspect in terms of ensuring the process is a success.

As far as the voter list goes, it is in place, and there is progress with electoral districts; a final decision has not been made on the utilization of technology in the election system, because there is insufficient capacity; the commission so far has not done enough work, said Jandad Spinghar, head of Afghan Civil Society Election Network.

The election commission had said it needs $210 million USD to hold next year's parliamentary and district council elections but so far the international community has pledged only $15 million USD.

There are questions in place regarding the capacities of the commission; there are no employees for the IEC's provincial offices. They don't have professional employees; the plan of using technology and a public awareness campaign are matters of major concern, said Habibullah Shinwari, a member of the Election and Transparency Watch Afghanistan (ETWA).