South Sudanese in the US petition referendum commission over inadequacy of polling centers

By Ngor Arol Garang

November 10, 2010 (JUBA) – Leaders representing various south Sudanese communities in the United States of America on Wednesday calling on the referendum commission to increase polling centers in areas with a dense populations of South Sudanese.

The position paper addressed to Ibrahim Khalil, chairman of the referendum commission and his deputy Chan Reec Madut, South Sudan President General Salva Kiir Mayardit, the Sudanese Ambassador to the US among other leaders, asked that Southern Sudanese abroad be given more powers to play an active role in verification of potential voters during voter registration and voting periods.

The leaders also expressed great concerns over the referendum process.

“There is a mounting concern and frustration of the people of Southern Sudan living in USA as January 9th, 2011 draws closer, over the murky and uncertainty of setting polling stations within our proximity, the management process, and lack of flow of information from the responsible referendum bodies. Therefore, as South Sudanese Community leaders, we are hereby expressing our position regarding the process,” the leaders said in a press release.

The position paper signed by twenty leaders calls for a free and fair voting so as to strengthen the trust Southern Sudanese have in the referendum process, democracy and constitutional set up of the Referendum Commission.

A 2005 peace agreement signed between the dominant parties of north and south ended the over two decade long civil war between the two regions. The deal granted the south Sudan a referendum on self determination to decide whether to remain part of a united Sudan or opt to become a new nation.

Expressing concerns over processes involves in the conduct of the referendum, the leaders accused people they described as enemies of peace and said to be working tirelessly against it.

“No expertise is needed to see how CPA has been tampered with, likewise, we are seeing the referendum is following suit by compromising its legitimacy.

“No independent agency other than IOM should be responsible for conducting, registering, manning and staffing the polling stations without the involvement of the community. This clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of the process to threats such as rigging. We have identified several problems including, unauthorized privilege escalation, use of dubious characters, and a quite considerable outsider threats,” they said

Drawing lessons learned from April’s elections, the leaders argued that the system is bound to suffer similar flaws and so demanded the need for a polling station in each of the 50 states of United States of America.

“There is no genuine point of limiting polling centers. Limiting them to two or three will deny many prospective voters the right to easy access to a polling station. The demographic nature of the Sudanese population in relation to state of residency and proximity to polling stations makes it very difficult if not impossible to travel,” the leaders argued.

They also recommended that “in case the number above is not possible; establish 3 polling centers in each region for a total of 12 centers in the USA for easy reach and convenience”.

South Sudan is widely expected to vote for full independence in January’s poll.

(ST)