BBC World Service Africa: SUDAN ELECTIONS 2010

Click into BBC World Service for a collection of reports and images from the BBC's election team in Sudan and BBCWSafrica's tweets.



A poster encouraging people to cast their votes in Sudan's forthcoming elections. (BBC World Service Africa)

Panoramic 360 photo: Sudan homecoming

About two million have returned to their homes in the south since the 2005 peace deal. The BBC's Lucy Fleming visited the village of Mathiang Dit in the province of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal, where more than half the population is made up of returnees. Click here to explore a 360 degree panorama of a village gathering and listen to their remarkable stories.

Sudan: 'I Will Wait Until the End'

Sudan: 'I Will Wait Until the End'
From United Nations Mission in Sudan (New York)
Monday, 12 April 2010 (with thanks to AllAFrica):

When Sudan held its last elections over two decades ago, Maria Majok of Warrap State was just a baby on her mother’s back.

“My mother told me that I was a three-month-old baby when she participated in the elections 24 years back,” said an elated Ms. Majok.

A student at Kuajok Secondary School and currently pregnant, Ms. Majok cast her vote on Sunday, the first day of polling, at Anguei polling station just outside the capital Kuajok.

Smiling and enthusiastically waving her inked finger after she finished voting, Ms. Majok was excited to cast a ballot for the first time in her life, stating that she looked forward to a bright future for her family as a result of the elections.

“I am very happy to participate in this election. I am looking forward to a future without war and displacement,” she said.

While a high turnout of people was smoothly casting their votes at other polling stations around Kuajok, some centres were marred by logistical problems and delays.

Ajok Akuei, 68, arrived at Freedom Square polling station just after sunrise eager to vote, but waited in a queue for over three hours before its doors opened. When her name failed to appear on the voters’ list, Ms. Akuei visited four other polling stations to no avail.

Marla Kuol, Deputy Team Leader of Warrap State High Committee, blamed the name confusion on the arrangement of voter lists in alphabetical order. “Now we are working hard to redistribute the voter lists to each centre again.”

But none of the teething problems experienced on the first day of voting seemed to have affected Ms. Akuei’s spirits. Mindful that there were still two days of scheduled balloting in her nation’s historic general election, she vowed to continue seeking a polling station with her name on its list of registered voters.

“I have my card with me and I want to vote because it is my right,” said Ms. Akuei. “I will wait until the end.”

African Union Observer Mission to the elections in Sudan

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA
P. O. Box 3243
Telephone : 251-11-5517700
Fax : 251-11-5517844

ARRIVAL STATEMENT OF THE AFRICAN UNION OBSERVER MISSION
TO THE 2010 ELECTIONS IN SUDAN, 11-13 APRIL 2010

At the invitation of the National Electoral Commission of Sudan to the African Union, and in pursuance to the African Union’s Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, H.E. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, decided to send a 50-member multi-disciplinary team of observers to Sudan to observe the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, scheduled for 11th-13th April, 2010.

The Mission is made up of officials drawn from National Electoral Commissions, National Parliaments, members of the Pan-African Parliament, members of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the AU, Regional Legislative Assemblies and Economic Communities, Ambassadors, prominent African individuals, and members of civil societies. The African Union Observer Mission is headed by H. E. John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of the Republic of Ghana. His wealth of experience in election observation, together with the wide experience of the members of this Mission, underscores the richness in diversity and competence that is required for the task ahead.

The Observer Mission was preceded by pre-election assessment missions of the African Union and an advance team of monitors who were also deployed to Sudan on March 18, 2010.

The African Union Observer Mission to Sudan is faced with the challenge of observing the Sudanese elections in accordance with the African Union’s Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa. The Mission is expected to determine if the elections were conducted in accordance with the constitutional and legal framework of the country by following the rules and procedures pursuant to the electoral laws of the country, as well as to determine the credibility of the whole electoral process. The African Union Mission to Sudan is a neutral, non-partisan, and non-aligned body that will make an honest, independent, impartial and objective assessment of the organization and the conduct of the elections.

The Mission expects to meet with various stakeholders in elections and these include: Political Parties, Civil Society Actors, the media, the National Electoral Commission of Sudan, as well as domestic and international observer missions deployed in Sudan to observe the elections. This will be part of an information gathering exercise on the elections. It is also important to know that democratic elections are the basis of any representative government, and the conduct of such elections at stipulated intervals, constitute one of the key elements to the democratization process that is essential for good governance, rule of law, and the maintenance and promotion of peace, security, stability and sustainable development.

The African Union Mission commends relevant institutions and the people of Sudan for this historic undertaking and wishes that the ongoing electoral process unfolds peacefully until its completion.

The Mission is supported by a team from the African Union. For further information please contact the AU Mission Secretariat based at the Grand Holiday Villa Hotel in Khartoum. Mobile number: +249 902 273 289; Telephone Number: +249 183 774039 and Fax: +249 183 773 961.

Security situation in Darfur 12 April 2010 - 4 UNAMID South African peacekeepers missing nr Nyala, S. Darfur, W. Sudan

Darfur/UNAMID Daily Media Brief 2010-04-12
From United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, Tuesday, April 13, 2010/APO:

Security situation in Darfur
Notwithstanding the fact that four UNAMID peacekeepers remain unaccounted for, the security situation in Darfur remains calm. UNAMID has mobilized its resources in the Nyala region and is working closely with the Government of the Sudan and local authorities in the search for the missing peacekeepers.

UNAMID military forces conducted 58 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, covering 45 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 58 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

UNAMID leadership joins patrol of IDP camps
UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR) Ibrahim Gambari today accompanied UNAMID police as they conducted a patrol of Abu Shouk and Al Salam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps outside El Fasher, North Darfur. He was accompanied by Deputy Joint Special Representative (DJSR) Mohamed Yonis and Police Commissioner Micheal Fryer.

The delegation visited Community Policing Centres in both camps, as well as polling stations, where IDPs were casting their votes in the country’s first multi-party elections in 24 years.

After speaking to several voters, JSR Gambari remarked “they want to vote, they want to exercise their right to vote. I am very happy that I was here to see them.”

Ghana’s Kufuor visits Darfur as head of AU Election Mission
Former Ghanaian President, John Agyekum Kufuor, and head of the African Union (AU) Liaison Office in Sudan, Ambassador Mahmoud Kane, were received today by UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR) Ibrahim Gambari at the Mission’s headquarters in El Fasher, North Darfur.

The Ghanaian statesman is heading a 50-member AU observer team for the first multi-party elections in Sudan since 1986.

Mr. Kufuor and Mr. Kane were briefed by UNAMID senior officials on the current security and situation and the political landscape of Darfur.

“We hope the electoral process will open opportunities for the people of the Sudan and enable them, using democracy [to] work for peace within the borders of this huge country,” Kufuor said.

Other international bodies, such as the Arab League and the Carter Center, have observers on the ground.

Darfur/UNAMID peacekeepers reported missing
From United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) via APO:

EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, April 13, 2010 - Four UNAMID peacekeepers have not been seen or heard from in nearly 24 hours. The peacekeepers last movement was reported at 16:00 hrs on 11 April 2010, as they departed their team site just outside of Nyala, South Darfur, on a 7km journey back to their private accommodation.

“There have been no sightings of our staff and we are deeply concerned for their well-being,” said UNAMID Joint Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari, who is in direct contact with Sudanese Government officials over this issue.

UNAMID has mobilized its resources in the region and is working closely with the Government of the Sudan and local authorities in the search for the missing peacekeepers.

Four South African peacekeepers kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur
From English.news.cn 2010-04-13 14:37:29 Editor: Xiong Tong

KHARTOUM, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Four peacekeepers belonging to the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the restive western Sudanese region of Darfur, a UNAMID source told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The anonymous source said the four South African peacekeepers, two male and two female, were stopped by some 10 gunmen when they were driving from their working site to their private accommodation near Nyala, the capital city of the South Darfur state, on Sunday.

The source quoted witnesses as saying that the four policemen were forced to step off their vehicle at gunpoint.

No armed group in Darfur has made contacts with the UNAMID to claim responsibility for the kidnapping, the source noted.

UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni has refused to confirm or deny the kidnapping, noting that the four peacekeepers were reported missing since Sunday.

"I can not confirm or deny this report (of the kidnapping), I have no confirmations on what had happened," the spokesman said on Tuesday.

Fears raised as four AU-UN peacekeepers go missing in Sudan's Darfur region
From UN News Centre - ‎Monday, 12 April 2010
Four peacekeepers serving with the joint African Union-United Nations force in the western Sudanese region of Darfur have not been seen or ...

Red Cross: 8 staff kidnapped in eastern Congo‎
From The Associated Press - Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Three foreign Red Cross workers were kidnapped in the Philippines last year, and French staff members were seized in Chad and Sudan. ...

Great news report from Khartoum, Sudan by Alex de Waal

Good for Sudan
From ssrc.org Making Sense of Sudan
By Alex de Waal
Monday, 12 April 2010

The last two days I have been in Khartoum, on the phone and email to people in all corners of Sudan. Places like Bor, Renk, Damazin, Aweil, Geneina, ed Da’ien, Hamush Koreb, Kadugli.

Names seared into the memory. Places where I took photographs of burned villages and disfigured survivors, or wrote accounts of misery and destruction. Some places that I never visited, but which were described to me by escapees who detailed their imprisonment, violation, hunger and despair. As Deborah Scroggins wrote of the displaced camps along the railway line to the south in 1988, these were “places so sad that the mind grows queasy trying to understand them.” For the last 24 years, since I spent Sudan’s last multi-party election day in the village of Nankose, south of Zalingei, whenever I received a message from one of these places, it was usually to report a story of execution, starvation, or forced displacement. My questions were, who is dead and who is alive, who is in prison and who is still free?

Today the questions are, did the ballots arrive in time? Were all the names on the electoral roll? What was the voter turnout?
Quietly, with dignity, with apprehension and sometimes with confusion and frustration, millions of Sudanese are voting. Good for them.

Sudan Elections: NEC extends voting for two days - Jimmy Carter pleased with polling procedure despite flaws

SUDAN'S National Election Commission (NEC) has announced it is extending voting for two days, meaning the election will now last for five days.



Photo: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter observes a polling station for Sudan's first multiparty elections in decades in Khartoum, Sunday, April 11, 2010. Sudan's elections commission on Monday announced a two-day extension to voting until April 15, after many voters experienced delays across Africa's largest country in the first open elections in 24 years. (AP/Abd Raouf/Reuters)



Photo: Ghana's former President John Agyekum Kufuor, top delegate of the African Union, second left, observes a polling station in Khartoum, Sunday, April 11, 2010. (AP/Amr Nabil)

TODAY, speaking to reporters at Juba airport, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said the elections were supposed to begin on Monday instead of Sunday to allow the Sudanese NEC to complete its logistical preparations.

"I don't think there is much doubt that there will have to be an extension on the time for voting," Mr Carter told reporters after meeting south Sudan leader Salva Kiir on the second day of polling.

Asked about whether the results of the vote, which began amid some chaos on Sunday, would be legitimate, Carter said: "It depends on whether or not the mistakes are corrected."

Source: See reports below.

Voting extended in Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years
From BBC World News, Monday, 12 April 2010 - 16:01 GMT:

It is the second day of voting in Sudan's first multi-part elections for 24 years.

The presidential, parliamentary and state polls are part of the deal that ended Sudan's 21-year civil war between north and south.

The deal also stipulated that there would be a referendum next year on whether the south should break away from the rest of the country.

There have been reports of confusion and disarray in the voting in many regions, with many polling stations opening late.

As a result the National Election Commission has announced it is extending voting for two days, meaning the election will now last for five days. [...]

Jimmy Carter Pleased with Polling Procedure Despite Flaws
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 12 April 2010:

12 April 2010 - (Juba) – Former US President Jimmy Carter is in Juba to assess the progress of voting in Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years.

Carter is the founder of the Carter Center Foundation which has a team of election monitors operating in Sudan. Carter visited fifteen polling stations in Juba yesterday as part of a three-day visit to Sudan.

Despite reports of a certain confusion at many polling stations, Jimmy Carter expressed his satisfaction with the voting process:

[Jimmy Carter]: “I have had the chance to visit fifteen polling sites and obviously things are orderly. The heads of the polling sites say there are no problems except two: one is that the people are illiterate and can’t find their names on the lists and the other thing is that some of them don’t know the procedures but the heads of polling stations are helping them make their decisions properly. Some believe they will finish tomorrow and I would say about half of the leaders say they might need another day, so as you all know, the National Elections Commission will add another day of voting if necessary. We will not know about that until tomorrow. So I found everything was peaceful, they all had the materials on time in these two centers and there have been no threats, no violence, and no problems except those that I mentioned.”

Jimmy Carter was speaking in Juba on Sunday.

Carter says 'not much doubt' Sudan polling will be extended
From AFP, Monday, 12 April 2010:

JUBA, Sudan - Former US president Jimmy Carter, who is in Sudan monitoring the country's landmark elections, said on Monday there was little doubt that the three days of polling will have to be extended.

"I don't think there is much doubt that there will have to be an extension on the time for voting," Carter told reporters after meeting south Sudan leader Salva Kiir on the second day of polling.

Sudanese are voting for president as well for legislative and local representatives in the first competitive vote in 24 years.

Southerners are also voting for the leader of the semi-autonomous government of south Sudan.

"There were some serious problems with the election process in some voting places where lists have been very difficult to find your names, where voters have difficulty finding their names," said Carter, who visited around 20 polling stations in south Sudan on Monday.

"In some cases, wrong ballots were sent to other places in southern Sudan."

Asked about whether the results of the vote, which began amid some chaos on Sunday, would be legitimate, Carter said: "It depends on whether or not the mistakes are corrected."

Carter says beginning of Sudan's polling process difficult
English.news.cn 2010-04-12 21:38:50 Editor: Lin Zhi

JUBA, Sudan, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Monday described the beginning of the polling process in Sudan's elections as difficult.

Speaking to reporters at the Juba airport, Carter said the elections were supposed to begin on Monday instead of Sunday to allow the Sudanese National Elections Commission (NEC) to complete its logistical preparations.

Carter arrived in south Sudan on Monday to get acquainted with progress of the polling process in the region.

He visited the Attla Barra polling station in Juba and expressed hope that the voters would be able to vote under natural circumstances.

Carter is expected to visit polling stations outside Juba to get acquainted with progress of the polling process.

He said he would meet President of southern Sudan government, Salva Kiir Mayardit and Chairman of the national elections commission in the south and listen to reports of his center's observers in the region.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Sunday criticized what it termed as mistakes during the first day of the polling in the south and demanded extension of the polling days to enable around 4 million southern Sudanese voters to cast their votes.

NEC May Extend Voting Period
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Sunday, 11 April 2010:

(Khartoum) – National Elections Commission chairman Abel Alier says the commission will review the three-day voting period if the need arises.

Speaking to SRS in Khartoum on Sunday 11 April, Alier said that the first day of the voting process was commendable.

[Abel Alier Arabic]: “The procedures are moving well and the queues are very long. The moral of the people is very high. God willing people will continue to vote as this is their right and duty to elect the leaders of the country for the next four years. This is a start and we will check whether to review some issues, because the attendance is so large, for that reason we may review some issues. Now I came to vote then I will return to the office, and we will see at the end of the third day whether the voting period is enough or not.”

That was the Chairman of the NEC speaking to SRS in Khartoum on the first day of polling in Sudan.

Sudan rebels want polling extended by four days
From AFP, Sunday, 11 April 2010 7:19 PM:

Former southern rebels the Sudan People's Liberation Movement called for an extension of polling in the country's landmark elections by four days, claiming problems.

“There have been a lot of irregularities that we have noticed. We are asking for an extension of the vote from three to seven days,” Samson Kwaje, SPLM leader Salva Kiir's campaign manager, told reporters.

“Today was a wasted day. We are seriously sending a protest to the NEC,” the National Election Commission, Kwaje said in English.

He said the irregularities included polling stations opening late, wrong ballot boxes in the wrong places and ballot boxes going missing.

Sudanese were voting on Sunday to choose their president as well as parliamentary and local representatives, in the first multi-party elections in 24 years.

The first day of voting ended officially at 6 pm (1500 GMT) and was marred by logistical problems and confusion.

ELECTIONS 2010 REPORTS



Khartoum State Monday, 12 April 2010 14:20

South Kordofan Monday, 12 April 2010 14:15

Sennar Monday, 12 April 2010 13:25

Unity State Monday, 12 April 2010 13:17

West Darfur Monday, 12 April 2010 13:14

Jonglei State Monday, 12 April 2010 13:01

Central Equatoria State Monday, 12 April 2010 12:54

Upper Nile State Monday, 12 April 2010 12:51

Northern State Monday, 12 April 2010 11:45

Abyei Monday, 12 April 2010 11:36

• Juba Turnout is High for Nationwide Elections
• Al-Bashir Votes in Calm Khartoum
• Authorities in Unity Expel NEC Officials And Use Their Staff in Centers
• Fashoda Commissioner Disrupts Voting in Agood
• Voting Process in Malakal Goes According to Plan
• Low Turnouts in Western Bahr el-Ghazal As Caretaker Governor Searches For Name
• Voter Names Missing in Maridi
• WES Governor Takes 15 Minutes to Complete Ballot Paper
• Despite Delays and Missing Names Polling Goes Smoothly in Torit
• Juba Prisoners To Vote in Elections
• Low Voter Turnouts At Sudan Embassy in Kenya

SRS - Sudan Radio Service 12-Apr-2010

• Jimmy Carter Pleased with Polling Procedure Despite Flaws
• CES Elections Committee Considers Legal Action Against Security Forces
• Defense Minister Describes Security Situation As Under Control
• Voting Process Much Improved on Second Day in Malakal Area
• Voting is Peaceful in Southern Kordofan Despite Challenges Reports Former Minister
• Ballot Paper Shortage and Voter List Confusion Hamper Abyei Vote
• AU Celebrates to Orderly First Day of Voting
• NEC Observers from North Caught in Accreditation Muddle in Juba
• DUP Official Condemns NEC Obstruction of Voting Process in Western Darfur

A Sudanese man listens to the radio with his family at dawn on the first day of election in Khartoum April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Mohamed Nurdldin)



An election official displays the ballots to be used for the elections at a polling station set in a restaurant in Juba, Southern Sudan, Sunday April 11, 2010. (AP/Jerome Delay)



A Sudanese woman holds her voter registration card outside a polling station in the town of Malakal in Upper Nile state, April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly)



A voter dips her finger into an ink bottle at a polling station in Khartoum April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Mohamed Nurdldin)



A Sudanese polling station staff member, left, stains between the fingers of a voter before she casts her vote for Sudan's first multiparty elections in decades in Khartoum, Sunday, April 11, 2010. (AP/Amr Nabil)



Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his wife Widad Babiker (R front) arrive at a polling station in Khartoum April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)



Sudanese President and presidential candidate Omar al-Bashir gestures after he casts his vote for Sudan's first multiparty elections in decades in Khartoum, Sunday, April 11, 2010. (AP/Amr Nabil)



In this photo released by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Southern Sudan President and electoral candidate Salva Kiir casts one of his ballots at a polling station set in a restaurant in Juba, Southern Sudan, Sunday April 11, 2010. (AP/UNMIS, Tim McKulka) ** EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES **



Southern Sudanese women check the registered voters' list for their names at a polling station in Juba, Southern Sudan, Sunday April 11, 2010 (AP/Jerome Delay)



A Southern Sudanese woman checks the registered voters list for her name, at a polling station in Juba, Southern Sudan, Sunday April 11, 2010. (AP/Jerome Delay)



Election officials post the list of eligible voters at a polling station set in a restaurant in Juba, southern Sudan, Sunday April 11, 2010. (AP/Jerome Delay)



Sudanese women look for their names on a voters list posted outside a polling station in the town of Malakal in Upper Nile state, April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly)



Sudanese policemen try to hold back a crowd of voters pushing through the gate of a polling station after voting has yet to begin by early afternoon in the town of Malakal, in the Upper Nile state April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly)



Sudanese voters check their names in the election list of a polling station located at a local school in the Darfur town of el Fasher, Sudan Sunday, April 11, 2010. (AP/Nasser Nasser)



A Sudanese man checks a list of registered voters at a polling station in the southeastern Sudanese town of Akobo. (AFP/Roberto Schmidt)



Sudanese check their names on lists outside a polling station to vote for Sudan's first multiparty elections in decades in Khartoum, Sunday, April 11, 2010. AP/Abd Raouf)



People search for their names on voting lists at a polling station in Omdurman, west of Khartoum April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)



A Sudanese voter look at names on a list displayed outside a polling station in the Sudanese embassy in Cairo April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)



Women look on at a polling station during the election in Mangalla, Terekeka county, Central Equatoria state, south Sudan April 11, 2010. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Sudan holds landmark election: Your comments
BBC News website readers from the country have been sharing their thoughts. Full story.

1. Sudan extends voting, official says ‎ CNN - 4 minutes ago By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- Voting in Sudan's first multiparty elections in 24 years has been extended by two days, a United Nations official said Monday ...

2. Carter optimistic on Sudan poll ‎ Financial Times - William Wallis - 21 minutes ago He would not be at this one in Sudan – or indeed have sent observers from his Atlanta-based Carter Center to all the others – if there were not some ...

Sudan Elections: NEC announces start of polling - Ex U.S. President Carter congratulates NEC for excellent progress

Juba residents participate in a prayer service on the eve of the country's elections in Juba, Southern Sudan, Saturday, April 10, 2010. The people of Southern Sudan will cast ballots in a national election for the first time in more than two decades when a three-day election begins Sunday. Despite the first-in-a-generation vote, most people are already looking past the elections to a vote next January considered far more significant: a referendum on independence that could signal the birth of a new African nation, if final negotiations with Khartoum over oil rights and the location of the border are worked out peacefully. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)



A Sudanese Muslim boy prays in front of a mosque, near Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, April 10, 2010. The election posters and slogan-filled T-shirts blanketing this town underscore a new excitement in southern Sudan, which will cast ballots in a national election for the first time in more than two decades, when a three-day vote begins Sunday. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)



A Sudanese National Election Commission (NEC) worker prays while her colleagues stand near polling boxes at a polling station in Al Fasher, northern Darfur April 10, 2010. (Reuters/Zohra Bensemra)



A Sudanese child is seen during a demonstration to demand stability in Sudan outside the Sudanese embassy in central London, Saturday April 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)



A Sudanese protester holds a placard during a demonstration to demand stability in Sudan outside the Sudanese embassy in central London, Saturday April 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

NEC Announces Beginning of Polling Period
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Saturday, 10 April 2010:

10 April 2010 - (Khartoum) – The National Election Commission has announced that polling will start officially on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference at the Friendship Palace in Khartoum on Saturday, NEC chairman Abel Alier officially announced the start of polling.

[Abel Alier]: “For the last fifty-six days of the electoral process, we were watching and you were watching political parties and candidates campaigning for these various offices, and that campaign ended yesterday. And today, there is a break tomorrow, we will start the last part of the elections process that is polling and the polling will take three days: 11, 12 and 13 April.”

Alier urged registered voters to go to the polling centers and cast their votes.

[Abel Alier]: “I would like to seize this opportunity to call upon the voter and through you the media, to convey this message. I ask the voter on behalf of the Commission to come out to vote. Just as the voter made every effort during the registration process where voters succeeded in attaining the highest registration rate in the history of the country and in many parts of the world, we are calling upon the voter to make every effort to come to cast his or her vote. And we call upon the citizens of this country to help encourage the voters to go to vote in the coming three days.”

He said the NEC wants to ensure that the results of the electoral process are free and fair.

[Abel Alier]: “We are committed to free and fair polling, we want to ensure that what we are doing will make it evident both to the voter, the ordinary citizen and to the world at large that this process of polling is going to be transparent as part of our commitment to free and fair elections and we want you, the media, to be with us in this. At this juncture, I would also like to mention my appreciation for the role played by the international community in assisting us in the process from May last year up to this moment, particularly the United Nations bodies.”

Alier said that more than 16 million people are expected to cast their vote during the polling period.

Former US President Jimmy Carter Congratulates NEC for Excellent Progress
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Saturday, 10 April 2010:

10 April 2010 - (Khartoum) – The former US President and the founder of the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter, says he is satisfied with the work of the National Elections Commission.

Carter made this statement to the press following his meeting with the NEC in Khartoum on Friday.

[Jimmy Carter]: “The representatives of the Carter Center have met with the NEC, and we had some questions to ask them and they answered all our questions satisfactorily, and they assured us that they are making excellent progress in the delivery of the elections material for the elections and we see no reason for any concern except in a few isolated stations way out where voter materials will be a little bit late, but they have three days at least to reach the voters. So we are satisfied with the decision made by the NEC. We are here to observe the process and we will make a report at the end.”

Last Tuesday, the SPLM’s secretary-general, Pagan Amum, had claimed that Carter Center staff had been expelled from nine states in northern Sudan and that Carter himself had threatened not to come to Sudan.

Carter said he was unaware of reports indicating that any of the center’s staff had been expelled from states in northern Sudan.

[Jimmy Carter]: “From northern Sudan? I don’t know of that. My son is going to Northern State, he is on his way there and I haven’t heard any reports about that. We had about twenty of our team this morning that left so they are on the way to be dispersed now.”

Regarding the electoral process in Darfur, Carter said his center would only comment on the election process after the elections had taken place.

[Jimmy Carter]: “We don’t have anything to report on the running of elections because they haven’t begun and we won’t make any assessment of the elections process until we make a panel decision and then we will have our press conference on the 17 April and that will be our first comment on the conduct of the elections.”

Former US President Jimmy Carter was talking to the press in Khartoum on Friday.

Alcohol Ban in Malakal As Some Traders Go On Holiday During Voting Period
SRS - Saturday, 10 April 2010 - (Malakal) - The governor of Upper Nile state, Dr. William Othon Awer has stressed that his government has taken measures to ensure good security and stability during the polling days in the state. Addressing people during a graduation of prison warders in Malakal on Friday, Awer denied rumors that some residents are leaving Malakal, for fear of insecurity. Awer has ordered bars and other places where alcoholic drinks are made or served to shut down until the end of polling. Our producer Hussein Halfawi in Malakal spoke to some traders in the area. Full story.

Yambio Residents Call on All Sudanese to Vote for Their Future
SRS - Saturday, 10 April 2010 - (Yambio) - As voting begins on Sunday 11 April all over Sudan, residents of Western Equatoria state expressed their readiness to vote in what for many will be the first democratic exercise of their lives. Southern Sudanese voters will be expected to complete twelve ballot papers in the voting period that will extend until 13 April. SRS took to the streets on Friday to find out how prepared residents are in Yambio and what these elections mean to them. Full story.

HEC Chair Warns Against Party T-Shirts and Violent Behaviour At Polling Stations
SRS - Saturday, 10 April 2010 - (Bentiu) - The chairman of the High Election Committee in Unity State is urging all candidates and their supporters not to turn up at the polling stations with their logos. Michael Mayor Chol was speaking during a press conference in Unity state on Friday. Chol also described the complaints procedure that will be put in place during the voting period. Unity state has more than 600 polling stations. Full story.

Some Foreigners Leave, Some Stay Behind on Eve of Elections
SRS - Saturday, 10 April 2010 - (Yambio) - Despite the fact that some foreigners have left southern Sudan because they anticipate election violence, some Ugandans, Somalis and Kenyans businessmen in Yambio say they will remain in southern Sudan throughout the elections. They expressed hope that the elections will be peaceful and that their businesses will continue doing well even after the elections. Here is David from Uganda. Full story.

Arman Withdrawal Causes Confusion Among SPLM Supporters in Khartoum
SRS - Saturday, 10 April 2010 (Khartoum) - The decision by the SPLM to withdraw its presidential candidate Yasir Arman from the presidential race has caused confusion among some young people in Khartoum. SRS spoke to a number of displaced youths from southern Sudan in Khartoum on Friday. Here, two young women explain how they feel about the SPLM decision to withdraw the Yasir Arman from the presidential race. Full story.