KABUL, Afghanistan - Nine out of 10 eligible Afghans have signed up for landmark October elections, the United Nations (news - web sites) said Sunday, a resounding endorsement of a democratic experiment supposed to help Afghanistan (news - web sites) turn its back on years of debilitating war.

Women and ethnic minorities are strongly represented among those registered for the first-ever direct vote for president. But parts of the south risk being left behind because of stepped-up attacks on election workers and Afghan and U.S. security forces.

First tallies since the eight-month registration drive began winding down on Saturday show that 8.7 million of an estimated 9.8 million eligible voters have collected ID cards for the Oct. 9 election. Forty-one percent of those registered were women.

"The participation is amazing," U.N. spokesman David Singh said. "There was a lot of skepticism about this process at the beginning, but the targets have been fulfilled."...