Voting Ends in Sudanese Elections
VOA News 15 April 2010
Voting has ended in Sudan following the country's first multi-party elections since 1986.
Polling centers closed Thursday evening, after five days of voting that was marred by logistical problems and allegations of fraud. Vote-counting is set to begin Friday.
The elections included contests for president, parliament, and many state and local offices.
International election observers have yet to pass formal judgment on the elections.
However, witnesses say the voting, while generally peaceful, was plagued with problems that included complicated ballots, names missing on voter lists, polling sites opening late, and in some areas, a shortage of voting materials.
Several parties either partially or fully boycotted the vote, saying that President Omar al-Bashir and the ruling National Congress Party were planning to rig the outcome. Sudan's election commission said rigging would be impossible.
On Thursday, an NCP official accused the army of semi-autonomous southern Sudan of killing at least eight people, including the party's top representative in the town of Raja. However, the report has not been confirmed.
The elections are a key part of the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan's north-south civil war. That agreement calls for the south to hold a separate referendum on independence next year.
President Bashir is expected to win re-election after two main opponents from the Umma Party and southern Sudan's dominant SPLM withdrew from the presidential race. Races for many other seats remained competitive.
President Bashir has ruled Sudan since a 1989 coup. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes against civilians in Sudan's Darfur region.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
