Roundup: Polls close on first day of Sudan general elections

The polling stations in Sudan closed on the first day after the voters cast their ballots in the presidential and legislative elections which started on Monday.

The first day of the voting proceeded smoothly, despite some administrative difficulties related to non-arrival of some electoral papers and mistakes in some voters' names and candidates' codes.

Yassin Abdul-Rahman, spokesman for Sudan's national organizations network for monitoring the elections, disclosed that the voters' register and the ballot cards for the presidency have not arrived in some constituencies in Wad Medani, the capital city of Gezira State.

In some stations of North Darfur State, the voting started hours later than the fixed time.

However, international observers that are monitoring the Sudanese elections downplayed the effect of such administrative mistakes on the entire electoral process.

"The electoral process is proceeding smoothly and in a well-prepared manner. Till now we have not observed any loopholes that could affect the transparency of the elections," Arab League Envoy to Sudan Salah Halima, who is participating among 40 Arab league observers, told Xinhua.

"According to our follow-up, all measures have been taken to ensure transparency and integrity. It is known that administrative mistakes happen in any elections but never affect the entire process," he said.

Additionally, the turnout rates varied from one polling station to another. The turnout at the peripheral stations was high, while it was low at the stations in central Khartoum.

"The low turnout is attributed to the nature of the citizens who do not prefer going to the polling stations during the morning period," said Suleiman Abdul-Rahim, head of the state's higher election commission, in a statement.

In the meantime, activists reported through social media that clashes took place between supporters of a candidate of the ruling party and an independent candidate at the polling station of Al-Silaim area in the Northern State, noting that the concerned authorities have closed the station.

However, Omar Saad, head of the higher elections commission in the Northern state, denied the polling station was closed but admitted what he termed as normal disputes between supporters of the candidates.

"What happened was normal and cannot be regarded as clashes. Furthermore, the polling station was not closed," he noted.

Last February, the Revolutionary Front, an alliance bringing together the SPLM/northern sector and three Darfur rebels movements, announced the launching of a military campaign to cripple the elections at the areas where the front is fighting.

Earlier on Monday, the voters in Sudan started casting their votes to elect a president and members for the national and state parliaments, which was boycotted by most of the opposition parties.

About 13.6 million registered voters around the country would cast their ballots at 7,000 polling stations.

The polling process will last till Wednesday while the votes counting is set to begin on Thursday. The final results of the elections are scheduled to be announced on April 27. Endit