Voters in Sudan head to polls as election commission extends voting period

One day after national elections began in Sudan, the country's election commission announced it would extend the three-day voting period until Thursday. The move comes amid reports of voting irregularities, including missing voter registries and delays in opening polling stations in Southern Sudan. Voters are electing a president of both Sudan and the semi-autonomous Southern Sudan, as well as national representatives and local governors. Four of the 12 presidential challengers said they were boycotting the election. Many analysts predict incumbent President Omar al-Bashir to win another term due to the boycotts. Bashir is accused of war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court.

There are about 16 million people registered to vote in Sudan. FSRN spoke to voters in Rumbek about what they've encountered at the polls and their expectations.

Voter 1: “I’m Emmanuel, I’m 23 years old. Actually, I’m a registered voter…According to the rules, there’s no way I can vote now because they have no options, there is no Plan B.”

Voter 2: “Me, I’m Michael…The one who will be taking care of the people and to bring peace and for the people to have good security and government and prosperity.”

Voter 3: “My name is Molouk. I’m 27 years old. We’re going to get the right and we’re going to get the democracy for our people. Our change is going to come. So we are going to vote now.”

These are Sudan's first multi-party elections in more than two decades. Some 14,000 candidates from more than 70 parties are competing. With today's announced extension, voting will now continue until Thursday.