Over 2 million voters registered for South Sudan referendum in two weeks
By Julius N. Uma
November 30, 2010 (JUBA) – A total of 2,120,557 voters have registered in southern Sudan for the regions referendum on independence in the last 14 days, according to officials from Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB). About 64,627 southern Sudanese residing in northern Sudan have also registered since the process began on November 15.
Justice Chan Reec Madut, the SSRB Chairperson told a media briefing in Juba, the South Sudan capital, with the recent extension of the voter’s registration deadline from December 1 to December 8, the number of registered voters is expected to increase tremendously.
The south is due to vote on whether it wants to secede from the north on January 9 2011 as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended over two decades of civil war.
“The bureau would like to reiterate that this decision by the commission [Southern Sudan Referendum Commission] to extend the voter registration period does not affect the January 09, 2011 date for the start of polling,” Justice Chan Reec said.
Over the past two weeks or so, the bureau has been faced with the challenge of delays in delivering voter registration materials as well as low turnout in some areas. The extension, he said, was meant to address the shortfalls in the process.
“The bureau also continues to work to re-supply referendum centers that have run out of materials,” Justice Chan Reec said, adding that, “To-date, 250 referendum centers have been re-supplied and state warehouses have been restocked with materials brought from Juba last week.”
Meanwhile, a committee has been formed to oversee the registration of prisoners currently in detention. This committee, comprising of three members will be tasked with coordinating a mobile team across the 10 states of South Sudan as well as the north.
The south is widely expected to opt to separate from the north, splitting Africa’s largest country between the mainly Islamic north and the south whose population follow Christian and traditional beliefs.
(ST)
AAMA
Over 2 million voters registered for South Sudan referendum in two weeks
2 million voter for the important referendum while the southerners in the election were close to 5 million despite the fact that many said they are not interested in that election and they are only concerned about the referendum. I would like to call what is happening now “counter poll rigging measures by rigging the other way round in advance” a trick the SPLM learned from the NCP in the last elections. This is the political culture that was developed in our country, the SPLM by now is well trained in the art of manipulation and thanks to the NCP for that. Anyways, it doesn’t make a difference what the people want now or what they really need, it’s all about these elites “by the way, I don’t think that the people of Sudan (generally) are civilized enough to truly practice democracy in its true sense as they are generally simple, emotional and highly un educated people and can be easily manipulated in the name of religion, ethnicity, social status …….., however, they have to learn how to practice democracy and they will learn it the hard way.
Peace.
NYANKOOR
Over 2 million voters registered for South Sudan referendum in two weeks
Two million is not enough, we want the eight million to register for referendum. I don’t think it is only two million over two weeks, someone is doing someing wrong to people so that they can’t register. May the National Criminal Party is tell people not to register.