Kabul, Aug 14 - Voters in Afghanistan have been urged to turn out in large numbers for the Aug 20 general elections in a campaign run by the election commission and the United Nations.

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan has enrolled a number of sports personalities and civic educators to organise mock voting across the country so that people learn the electoral process.

'Now is the opportunity for Afghanistan to strengthen not only its electoral institutions but also its other institutions to better deliver basic services to its people, to improve the quality of their lives, and access to justice,' Manoj Basnyat, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) country director in Afghanistan was quoted as saying in a statement.

The educators fanned out across the country in cars fitted with loud hailers to exhort people to vote.

The poll panel is distributing sample ballots, with names and pictures of candidates, to give voters a feel of what the actual ballot papers will look like on voting day.

Stressing that voter turn out is a major challenge in the insurgency plagued country, Masood Amer, a UNDP staff member, said: 'Some people may be afraid to vote, but this voter education by the Election Commission has been very extensive.