Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – An extension seems likely for the election-day voting that started Sunday, April 11 and should finish April 13 (see Fides 8/4/2010). Voters are called upon to elect the President, the National Parliament, and the governors of individual states and local assembly (Majlis al-wilayat).
The extension of the voting, for at least another 24 hours (although according to some sources, the votes could last until April 17), has come from delays and misunderstandings that have occurred in several polling stations in some parts of the country. While in Khartoum, the capital, and in major towns of Sudan polling stations were opened according to law, in several outlying areas, there were delays in opening polling stations. In some cases, there have been irregularities reported in the electoral lists, in print or cards. The Electoral Commission itself has acknowledged errors in a note in the distribution of cards in 26 seats in the State of Khartoum and problems of linkage between the symbols and names of party candidates in the state of White Nile."
These shortcomings are compounded by the complexity of the voting. 60% of national parliamentarians and regional authorities are directly elected with a list of names, and another 40%, however, are elected by an electoral list (voters will not vote for a candidate, as in the first case, but for a list submitted by a party) and a list of women (women are entitled to 25% of the seats).
Voters in the North then receive eight cards for: the President, the deputy of the national constituency, the regional governor of the state, the list of women for domestic legislature, the list of party members for national legislature, the deputy of the regional district, the lists of women for the regional legislature, and party lists for regional campaigns.
In the ten southern states, the situation is even more complex. The voters also vote for the President of the autonomous government of south Sudan, for Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of Southern Sudan, for the list of women and for the parties of the Southern legislature. In the South, the voters thus receive 12 cards.
There are 16 million registered voters, distributed over 10,750 seats. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 12/4/2010)
