The Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Monday said that the two biggest challenges facing the coming Presidential and Provincial Council elections was lack of public awareness and insecurity.
The commission asked civil society institutions and the media to cooperate in elections process and help build awareness and interest amongst Afghans.
"The big problem that the IEC has is inadequate awareness in the public, but the commission wants to increase public awareness with the cooperation of civil society and media," said Zia-ul Haq Amarkhil, head of the IEC Secretariat.
For many in power in Kabul and their Western allies, the elections in April mark a formative step in which Afghanistan could set itself up to either sink or swim in the coming years after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014.
However, according to Afghan election activists, most in Afghanistan are skeptical about the democratic process and believe that the President is predetermined by powerful foreign interests.
"People think that the President is already appointed by the U.S and Europe and this mindset must be fixed," chief of the Afghan Democracy Watch Zekria Barakzai said. "The IEC and civil society institutions should cultivate the mindset in the public that their votes are count."
A major aspect of the IEC's work this year has been a focus on getting female voters registered and informed for the elections.
"Our sisters should participate in the upcoming election and must take voting cards and must go to the registration centers and vote and must use their rights," IEC Commissioner Gulalai Achakzai said on Monday.
The IEC has reported that around 30 percent of over three million Afghans registered to vote this year are women.
Reportedly, 1,600 males and females have been employed by the IEC to promote awareness about the upcoming elections around the country.
But in addition to awareness and access to information about the elections, the IEC has said security threats present the biggest obstacle to getting women, and Afghans more broadly, to participate.