Carter Centre report says voter registration in Sudan progressing satisfactorily

From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, December 1, 2009:

(Khartoum) - The Carter Centre has issued a report which suggests that, despite logistical problems which have delayed the process, voter registration has been progressing satisfactorily since it begun on November 1st 2009.

The Carter Center was formed by in 1982 by former US president Jimmy Carter. As part of its governance program, the Center conducts election observation missions around the world.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service by phone from Khartoum on Monday, the Carter Center field office director, Jeffrey Mapendere, has acknowledged that the 7-day extension of the registration exercise will enable more people to register for the elections scheduled for 2010.

[Jeffrey Mapendere]: “As you saw in the statement, we are saying mainly two things. Generally speaking, it has been going on well, but of course there are things to be improved. One thing that they have already done is that they have extended the period which gives most people the opportunity to register. It will also help make sure that they provide enough materials to all the states so that at least those who want to register during this period don’t face problems. There have been a few cases where people ran out of registration books and some other materials. We are urging the Electoral Commission to make sure that supplies are provided and also that the staff working on the voter registration process get their salaries. Of course we have been experiencing low registration rates in several states, mostly in the south and also the totals so far are not as high as we expected but there are some states with very high registration rates.”

In their report, which was published on November 30, the Carter Center thanked the NEC for facilitating the work of its observers.

The Carter Centre has deployed observers from 21 countries to monitor the voter registration process.