Kabul, Dec 22 (IANS) The registration of candidates for Afghanistan's fourth presidential elections began on Saturday, according to the Independent Election Commission (IEC).

The candidate nomination period started on Saturday and will end on January 2, the poll body said on its website. The elections are expected to be held on April 20, 2019.

The IEC will also have a supportive voter registration process from January 10 to 24 to help register Afghans who do not have voting card, recently returned to the country or lately became eligible for taking part in the polls, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier this year, some 12 million eligible voters registered for the parliamentary elections held in October, but only 4 million people cast their ballots amid security fears and militants' intimidation.

The poll body is expected to announce the preliminary list of presidential runners on January 8.

--IANS soni/sed