QUETTA, Sept 7: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) will establish over 1,000 registration centres from Oct 1 to 3, to register Afghan refugees in Pakistan to cast votes in the forthcoming presidential election in their country.

IOM Director (Balochistan) Richard Atwood, while briefing reporters here at his office on Tuesday, said that the centres would be set up at 300 places throughout the country, with majority of them in Balochistan and the NWFP.

He said the centres would be established near the refugee camps and the provincial capitals of the NWFP and Balochistan. He said the IOM has been given the task of registering the eligible voters and conducting polling for the Afghan presidential elections in Pakistan and Iran on behalf of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Afghan government's Joint Election Management Body (JEMB).

He said that after completing the voters' registration the centres would remain open for two days on Oct 4 and 5, for public to view the electoral rolls. Those scrutinizing the lists would be able to submit a challenge to any name that they believed had been registered fraudulently, he maintained. "Documents would be checked strictly before registering the voters."

He said that the voters would be required to confirm their nationality and eligibility to participate in the election and each one of them would receive a registration receipt to be presented on the polling day.

He said that the IOM would inform the Afghans, specially women, of their right to vote. The IOM director said that they have established a regional office in Quetta, besides field offices in Quetta and Dalbandin to serve the Afghan voters.

He said that his organization would commence local voters' education and information services for the Afghan population through its network of field offices in Pakistan and Iran.