1st LD: Sudan elections commission extends voting for extra day

Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) on Wednesday decided to extend the polling in general elections for one more day nationwide to end on Thursday.

"The commission has decided to extend the voting nationwide for one day to end on Thursday, and provided that the votes counting is to begin on Friday," said Mukhtar Al-Sam, NEC Chairman at a press conference here Wednesday.

"The commission has also decided to extend the voting process in Gezira State in central Sudan for two days (Thursday and Friday). It also decided that the voting in Kutum constituency in North Darfur State is to continue till Saturday," he noted.

The NEC admitted administrative mistakes that accompanied the electoral process relating to nonarrival of electoral materials to some polling stations in different areas of Sudan, noting that the voting was not conducted at some stations for security or logistical reasons.

In the meantime, the voting in Sudan's presidential and legislative polls continued for its third day where the NEC has not yet provided any statistics on participation rates.

The NEC chairman refused to talk about the turnout rates, saying "the turnout rates would be announced after the end of the voting process."

On Monday, the voters in Sudan started casting their votes to elect a president and members for the national and state parliaments amid boycotting by most of the opposition parties.

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

Regional organizations such as the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD) and the Arab League are monitoring the elections. Endit