GARDEZ, Afghanistan — Badrai was determined that the Taliban loyalists wouldn't stop her from voting. So she stiffened her resolve, walked into the mud-walled room behind the local hospital and asked the woman behind the desk if she could have a registration card.
"Yes, I am a little scared, because some people say the Taliban will threaten us," she said. "But God is kind. I think the elections will change our lives."
Badrai then lifted the burka she always wears when she leaves home, and the elections officer asked her for her last name -- she doesn't have one, like many Afghans. And then her age -- she doesn't know for certain, but thinks she may be 50.
Then the elections officer pressed Badrai's thumb on an inkpad. The imprint, a substitute for her signature because she cannot read or write, was transferred onto a card. A minute later, she became the 22nd woman that day to receive a voter registration card.
Elections are scheduled for September. The last time Afghan women voted was in 1965, when they were granted full suffrage. Since then, undemocratic regimes, from Communist to Islamic fundamentalist, have been forced upon the population.
But poor security, intimidation by still-powerful fundamentalists and social obstacles remain major barriers to women's participation.
On Saturday, at least three women helping to register voters were killed along with a child in the eastern city of Jalalabad after a bomb exploded on a bus. Twelve women were wounded in the attack, the worst yet against election staff. A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the killings. It is believed the bus was targeted because it was carrying women.
Jean Arnault, the United Nations' special envoy for Afghanistan, expressed outrage at the deaths. "Their killers probably wanted to stop this momentum towards broad female participation," he said. "They will not reach their goal."
The United Nations is organizing the drive to register 8 million to 10 million voters, about half of them women. The U.N. says it needs $87 million by July 1 to carry out the elections. But so far, it says, it has received only $12.5 million from the international community. Insurgents have vowed to disrupt the process, and factional fighting is increasing as some warlords refuse to disarm their militias.
